Sans Compassion
by MLoreley85
Summary: Sans may not have always been the loving brother we come to meet during Frisk's journey. Once, he might have been openly resentful. But a funny thing happens when you see someone you care for suffer... time... and time... again...
1. Irritation

The day that Papyrus learned how to talk was the last one Sans had ever known peace. The endless torrent of nonsense that streamed from that useless kid's mouth was a rope that had been slowly choking Sans, strangling the joy from his life. He'd stopped using the common rooms of the house, having learned that doing so only invited another burst of boastful bullcrap he no longer had the patience for. But not even holing up in his room had been enough solace; Papyrus had little respect for even _that_ boundary, yelling at him from the other side of the door if he'd locked it.

And oh god, yell he did. Constantly. Nothing Sans ever did was right in Papyrus' eyes, and that horrid _screeching_ would erupt at the slightest provocation. Didn't run his sheets through the wash soon enough? A shrill lecture about uncleanliness and how much time he wasted by being asleep was sure to follow. Left a sock somewhere? He might as well have slapped Papyrus in the face for it, for all he seemed concerned. Neglected the pet rock he adopted as a joke? Not only did he get dressed down for it, at volumes that one typically shared for crowded concert halls, but Papyrus would even take it on himself to 'feed' the pet rock _himself_ , and add a level of smugness to his 'talk' with Sans that just ground on his very last nerve.

The fridge had once been a mix of the foods they liked to eat, but ever since that stupid fish decided to 'train' Papyrus in the art of preparing food- and taught him all of _one freaking dish_ \- there had been an endless invasion of terrible spaghetti overwhelming what had once been a mutual space. Sans had gotten so fed up, he shoved a bag of chips in there as a joke and took up a tab at Grillby's instead of bothering anymore.

Besides, if he'd tried cooking, he'd just get _another_ round of being told how _wrong_ his approach was. Not that he'd ever heard any complaints about his hot dogs, but of course, Papyrus didn't care about that.

Leaning against the giant door deep in the forest near Snowdin, Sans felt his hands clenching. That stupid braggart had gotten it into his head that he wanted to join the Royal Guard. He'd become so enamored of that garish costume, he _never took the thing off_. He'd become a laughingstock, an eyesore, an uptight, self-centered jerk who only saw his goals and trod over anyone else who got in his way.

Sans' grimace tightened. Today had been the last straw for him, when he came home from one of the _many_ jobs he worked to keep the both of them in stable enough conditions only to have another dirty sock shoved in his face and accused of being _LAZY_.

"yeah, how about you go fuck yourself?" he'd snarled at Papyrus, only to feel a faint sting at the hurt that registered on his brother's face. "seriously, it wouldn't matter even if we _did_ live in a total dump, because _no one comes over_. "

"BUT WHAT IF THEY DID AND SAW IT!? WHAT WOULD THEY THINK!?" He cried, throwing the sock onto the floor. "THE GREAT PAPYRUS WOULD BE SO EMBARRASSED TO HAVE TO EXPLAIN THAT HIS OWN BROTHER WAS SUCH A SLOB!"

Anger bubbled up from a toxic place in his soul, and Sans rounded on Papyrus. " _you_ would be embarrassed? _you_? you've done nothing but humiliate me for _years_ with this idiotic 'royal guard' schtick you keep touting, _as if you ever stood a chance of getting in_! you call me lazy, but what do _you_ do all day? besides yell at _me_ for some arbitrary bullshit, i mean! do you know what they say about you behind your back?"

Papryus recoiled, eyes wide. "WH-WHAT? WHAT DO THEY SAY?"

Sans' grin grew coldly. "they call you a loser, a weirdo, a freak who stomps around uselessly and is _sometimes_ entertaining in his stupidity! don't you get it?" Sans poured all of his pent up frustration into his words. " _i am embarrassed to be related to you!_ "

For a long moment, Sans waited for the inevitable tirade of anger and self-righteous screeching. Papyrus stared at his brother, his jaw agape, his shoulders slowly sinking. The silence was broken by Papyrus, but it wasn't his usual grating shouting.

"...Are you truly...?"

Sans flinched to see tears welling in his brother's eyes, but the anger was unleashed now. "you haven't exactly made it easy to be your brother, y'know?"

The tears continued, though he wiped them away with a big orange glove. "The Great Papyrus does not care what the others think... they are simply unable to see my greatness... but to hear this from _you_ , of all people, Sans..." Anger finally flickered to life in his eyes. "YOU DON'T HAVE A RIGHT TO BE EMBARRASSED BY ME, YOU LAZYBONES! I WOULD CALL YOU A WALKING GARBAGE PILE IF I EVER ACTUALLY SAW YOU WALKING ANYWHERE!"

Whatever regret Sans had in his initial outburst was extinguished in an instant, and he felt himself go colder than the chilly air of Snowdin. "don't bother trying to insult me, bro. you don't have enough wit to manage it."

He turned and threw the front door open, pausing only to grin over his shoulder. "oh, and your spaghetti tastes _terrible_." The door closed on any further argument from Papyrus.

The walk to his post by the door had been a fog, wrapped in conflict. Did he regret what he said? Well, sure. No matter how annoying the sprog was, he was still his brother. Papyrus had never done any deliberate harm, he was just too much to handle for him. With the door at his back, Sans closed his eyes and clonked his skull against it in resignation. Maybe he'd say sorry when he got back.

Maybe.

A low rumble brought Sans out of his thoughts, and he wrenched to his feet, staring at the door in shock. The door _never_ opened. The giant freaking door was always closed, and his placement there was supposed to be a precaution, not a legitimate need! Panicking, Sans bolted for the bushes nearby, nestling into the leaves as best he could.

The door finally cracked, the musty smell of a dying cavern mixing with the crisp, wintry air. The crack was enough to let out the horrific creature he anticipated. ...They were awfully small, weren't they? Short, with rounded edges, a helmet of mussed hair, and a striped shirt. Oh, they must be a kid; everyone knew only kids wore striped shirts. He watched the kid crane their head to and fro, as if they'd never seen anything like an underground forest.

Their gaze stopped on the set of footprints Sans had left behind. Sans had enough time to curse his mistake before a spike of fear pierced him. The child's hands... they were covered in dust. The dust even covered parts of their sleeves. A shiver took him; the concern that had placed him at the door had been justified. A human had arrived in the Underground, and, like the legends, they were capable of horrible things.

And they knew where he was.

They started advancing towards the bush, a toy knife clutched in their dusty hand. Sans barely tilted his head to look for an escape, when the soft brush of the leaf on his skull halted him; if he moved, the rustling would reveal him for sure! The human child was still on guard, but they didn't seem convinced that anyone was back there. Sans might still get away with not having to fight this child so long as they _never found him_...

They were close. Staring straight into the bushes. Sans was close enough to see the cold malice written on their features, a hate sucked at his soul to see. Their eyes darted to the camera installed in the bush, sharpening to a point. With a cruel grin, they snipped the cord of the camera using the toy knife, and turned on their oh so merry way.

Sans trembled in place for a while after the kid had skipped on ahead. He could probably have easily defeated the kid, really, but it wasn't fear of dying at the human's hands that had so rattled him. This was a human that exemplified the theory of how LOVE manifested in humanity; a true malice that would kill them all, if it could.

Judging by the coating of dust, Sans suspected they were already capable of exactly that.

-xxx-

Nothing was going right, nothing was right anymore. That abomination was killing everyone, slaughtering them in the streets, leaving them pinned to trees until they dissolved into dust. Hurrying as fast as his short legs could carry him, Sans used every shortcut he could to reach the edge of Snowdin before the unthinkable could happen.

His idiot brother had challenged the human to fight him. Still going on about joining the Royal Guard, determined to prove himself at all costs, Papyrus had told him so himself.

"I KNOW THE HUMAN HAS DONE MANY VIOLENT THINGS, SANS!" He'd said, scowling at Sans. "THEY ARE AS DANGEROUS AS THE KING FEARED, AND I WILL NOT ALLOW IT TO CONTINUE!"

"so you're going to throw yourself in their way, and what... hope that they'll trip over your spine after stepping all over you?" Sans had growled.

"VERY FUNNY, SANS! ALWAYS WITH THE JOKES, ISN'T IT!? WELL, MAYBE I'LL BE THE ONE LAUGHING ALL THE TIME SOON ENOUGH! I WILL CAPTURE THE HUMAN AND GET THE RECOGNITION I DESERVE!" He had paused, and smiled weakly at him. "M-MAYBE THEN YOU WON'T HAVE TO BE EMBARRASSED ANYMORE?"

The pang had nearly seized all of Sans at that point. "you're not going to try and take on the human because of what _i_ said, are you?"

Papyrus sniffed and wiped his glove across his right eye. "N-NO! DON'T BE SILLY! I'M GOING TO DO WHAT'S RIGHT, REGARDLESS OF WHAT YOU REGRET SAYING TO ME!"

"whatever. you'll just get yourself killed, moron."

Papyrus had stiffened, grinding his teeth together. "IF THE GREAT PAPYRUS IS FELLED BY A HUMAN, THEN AT LEAST I CAN SAY I DID SOMETHING! I WILL HAVE NOTHING TO REGRET! WILL YOU?"

Sans had smirked at him, then. "what do i have to regret?"

The last 'shortcut' Sans stepped through dropped him a few feet from where Papyrus towered over the tiny human child, dealing wave after wave of his attacks. They'd been going at it for a while, it seemed, as both were ragged and starting to slip up. Sans darted behind a tree to watch, not wanting to be seen by either of them.

His brother was fighting competently, though. He'd learned something in all this time about fighting, and he certainly was resilient. But... there were several nicks in his armor and his bones. He was already badly weakened, and the human's grin rivaled Sans' own.

A flash of the knife in the human's hand created an arc in the air, and the skull was flying, the body beginning to disintegrate. The armor and cape fell around the growing pile of dust, and his skull landed in a patch of snow nearby, slightly tilted as he regarded the human in shock.

"...OH."

 _No. No. No._ Sans gripped the tree, his eyes as wide as his bones would allow, his legs trembling. _No no no no-_

Papyrus grinned at the human. "S-STILL! I THINK YOU COULD DO SO MUCH BETTER THAN THIS! I BELIEVE YOU HAVE IT IN YOU TO DO THE RIGHT THING, HUMAN! YOU EVEN HESITATED A LITTLE-"

Whatever else Papyrus had to say was cut off in a strangled cry as the human crunched their foot through his skull. He promptly dissolved as the rest of him had, silence filling the forest. The human lifted their leg, spying the dust that had started to cling there, too. After a short giggle, they brushed it off, humming a jaunty tune to themselves, and continued through the fog towards Waterfall.

"p...puh..." Sans felt the strength drain from him. "PAPYRUS!" he screamed in what would have been a perfect imitation of his brother, had it not come out all choked and strangled. He staggered to the dust pile, to the slowly scattering armor that rustled slightly in the breeze. His trembling hands were in the dust, droplets soaking it before he even realized he was crying.

He couldn't breathe.

He gathered the dust in the cape, that ghastly bright orange cape that stood out amidst the snow. The sound of his scraping and gathering was the only thing interrupting the pure silence of the forest. Silence.

 _"man, how about you drink a tall glass of 'shut the fuck up', bro?"_  
 _"here's a dictionary. look up the word 'quiet' and try to live it out for a while, 'kay?"_  
 _"have you ever tried not being insanely loud? no?"_

He shuddered, all the things he'd said to Papyrus in irritation hitting him at once.

 _"whatever. go fuck yourself."_  
 _"i don't even think having no taste buds is enough of an excuse for what you just cooked."_  
 _"seriously, your voice could grate cheese, bro."_

" _i don't care."  
"you'll just get yourself killed, moron."  
"what do i have to regret?"_

He swallowed the wail that threatened to spill out of him. No, the human would hear him. He had to keep it in, keep it under control. He let his tears suffice his mourning for now. He gripped the cape closed, having gathered all he could.

He glared into the fog as he stood, feeling his left eye burning fiercely. The human would answer for this; there was no doubt of that. He would see to it that the human would never see their goals realized. He might even have a little fun for once.

He started back towards town, thinking of where he might spread the ashes, where it would make Papyrus the most happy to occupy in death. He'd have to get Undyne's help if he wanted the dust to be in the garden near the Royal Guard's barracks, else he might have to settle for someplace around the house. Maybe he could spread Papyrus around his room, just to keep some remnant of his brother nearby, just one room away from him.

He was finally going to have some peace and quiet.

His eye _burned_.


	2. Filthy Brother Killer

_The human_.

Bathed in the gold of the hallway, the shredded orange cape of his brother now wrapped around his shoulders like a scarf, Sans wouldn't have recognized himself if he'd been given a mirror. There was a hole in him, now, somewhere in his soul. The death of his brother had ripped something precious out of him.

He may have been annoyed by the kid. He might've wanted him to go away, to leave him alone, to let him do his research in peace. He might've even fantasized a few times about Papyrus' impulsiveness getting him killed; mostly when he'd found himself irritated to death by the constant prattling. But actually seeing his skull drop to the snow, seeing the dust blowing in the breeze...

He cringed. Siblings fight all the time, he'd always reasoned. Sometimes there's too much of a clash of personality, and things are said that can wound the other person. He'd gotten tired of his brother always clinging to him, always scolding him, lecturing him, invading his privacy...

And yet... it was only now, now that he was gone, now that Papyrus could never squawk at him ever again, that Sans saw it. The love. The affection in everything Papyrus did. He'd wanted attention, which was almost always grating, but he'd always been at his happiest whenever he'd gotten Sans to laugh at something. He'd lectured and scolded because he wanted the best for his brother. He'd invaded his privacy because he was lonely.

Papyrus had been _so lonely_. Sans placed his hand over his face to cover the single stream that had started. How had he ignored Papyrus' loneliness all this time? It probably never helped when he'd been so cruel in return at the slightest provocation... but the only time Sans talked to him was when Papyrus had done something to annoy him. So of course, he did it more often.

If he couldn't get Sans' approval, he would at least have his attention.

Sans buried the guilt again, blotting his eye with the cape. His other eye couldn't shed tears anymore; now, it always glowed hot. He felt like the left side of his face was constantly cooking now, an anger that could barely be contained. His brother was murdered by that human, and had robbed Sans of the opportunity to see his brother, to understand him while he was still alive.

The human would simply have to pay with their life in exchange. Then Sans could be satisfied.

Well, as close to satisfied as he could get.

He'd also begun noticing a strange sort of ripple every once in a while. One moment, he could've sworn that he'd heard news that the human had finally been defeated, their soul captured or broken. But no, the human had never died, had they? They'd persisted, they'd slaughtered, and now they were almost to the King. But the feeling was off; small changes and inconsistencies were trickling in every day.

Had he not already shut down, Sans might have cared more to investigate the strange behavior of the timeline. Instead, he could only wait, knowing where the human would come.

He wasn't terribly powerful himself, of course. He had to borrow from the ingenuity of the former Royal Scientist, and co-opt the "Gaster Blaster" for his own use. He was confident that, so long as he had a clear shot, he would be able to stop the human the moment he saw them. He would obliterate them. He wouldn't even let the soul endure.

Footsteps. Tiny footsteps, light and pattering. He narrowed his gaze on the door leading into the hallway, letting his hate build; he would need it, to kill this human. The second the mussed helmet of hair bobbed into view, Sans let his fury go; a spring-loaded trap of death. He lunged forward.

The human caught sight of him at the last second, and grinned so broadly it could've split their face. The toy knife, their choice of weapon their entire journey, flashed just as it had with Papyrus. Sans snarled, and the blaster he'd summoned fired at full power. The human managed to tumble out of the way just in time to avoid incineration, though their hair smoked at the edges.

The human's blade sliced towards Sans as awareness of the dodge registered, and he... wasn't there. Instead, he was two inches to the right of the attack, and grinned as he fired his blaster again. This time, the human wasn't so lucky, and their blade arm caught in the blast. They howled and dropped the knife, the skin under the torn sleeve bloodied and burning.

"hurts, don't it?" Sans asked, swinging his arm in the human's direction, sending a spray of magically-summoned bones towards them. Amidst them, a blue bone that passed through the torso of the human, leaving behind the signature enchantment of both skeleton brothers; a weight in their heart. The human sank to their knees in shock, struggling against being pinned down.

"it's funny... when a human is terrible to another human being, you call them a 'monster'... as though being a monster is the worst thing you could be..." he advanced slowly, preparing more bones. "i have a better phrase for you, though."

He sent another wave of his bones, and activated the gaster blaster with a manic grin. " _filthy brother killer!_ "

A glint as the blaster lit the knife, the one now gripped in the human's hand. they laughed and rolled out of the way of the blast, and shattered through the bones, letting them smash into their body as they charged forward. Their laughter rang out as they slashed towards Sans, who once again vanished, appearing just out of reach again, this time sweat forming on his crown.

"You're going to judge me?" The human asked, their grin broadening. "When a human stops being human, we call them a monster. I can see why, now; you're all terrible people. You hold everything in, you hurt others because you just can't help it; it's part of what you monsters are."

They lunged again, missing again, but grinning still. "Maybe I'm a monster now, too. I enjoy hurting all of you. I enjoy killing you. You're all just dust, waiting to be broken apart. But at least I'm honest with it."

Sans fired the blaster again, sending a looping wave of bones to encircle the human. Instead, the human deflected the bones into the line fired from the blaster, briefly shielding themselves. They laughed cruelly.

"You can't be honest, can you, Sans?" They giggled, and their hair pulled back from their face, showing eyes faintly glowing red. "Papyrus told me how much you hated him, how much you made him feel like dirt. How he wanted nothing more than to become a Royal Guard, just so you could be prouuuuud of him for once."

They snickered. "He was hoping capturing me could change everything for you two. That you could see how much he loved you."

"NGGH!" Sans cried, a throaty yell that sounded nothing like him anymore, animalistic and raw. His eye was burning to the point of pain, and he reached out with his power, yanking the human back to their knees. "shut up shut up _shut up_ -!"

Despite being grounded, the human laughed their hardest now. "If only he could see you now! Wearing his stupid cape like some trophy. You could never tell him you loved him... and now he's gone! And it's _your fault_ , all because he wanted you to stop _hurting_ him, you _monster -_ "

"SHHUUUUUUT UUUUUUPP!" he screamed, bludgeoning the human with the bones repeatedly. "SHUT! UP! _SHUT!_ _ **UP!**_ "

The blaster charged up for a final attack, and as the light burst from it, the human's wild grin glowed. Their body was consumed. Gone.

But the blaster missed one final piece of the human. Infuriated, Sans plunged his hand into the soul still lingering, straight into its core. He growled. "I'll make it right, human! Your power will help me make it right!"

A fragment broke from the soul, traveled down his arm, met his soul... and the world went white.

...

...He was in his room, on the floor, tangled in his sheets, his arm and leg still on his bed. Eyes wide, he scrambled upright, dazed. Hadn't he just been in the King's palace? That twisted, maniacal grin...!

"SANS!" A familiar shriek cut through his confusion, and the door burst open, the light clicked on.

Standing there, still in that stupid, garish costume, was Papyrus. Worry was written in his expression, but he hesitated entering any further than the doorway.

"SANS, ARE YOU ALRIGHT!? I HEARD YOU YELLING LIKE YOU WERE HURT! AND WHY ARE YOU ON THE FLOOR?"

Sans could only stare.

The image of that same face, crumbling into dust, disappearing forever, faded from his vision. "...papyrus? ...is that really you...?"

Surprised at the lack of irritation in his tone, Papyrus hid his smile by posing dramatically to match it. "OF COURSE! IT IS I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS! THERE ARE NONE LIKE ME IN THE WORLD!"

Tears flowed down Sans' shocked face. This unnerved Papyrus even further; he'd seen annoyance and frustration register anytime he barged in like this, but crying? He fell from his pose, the concern back in his expression.

"OH NO! SANS, I'M SORRY, I DIDN'T MEAN TO BREAK IN! YOU WERE YELLING AND I HEARD A LOUD THUD AND THOUGHT THAT MAYBE YOU MIGHT HAVE BEEN IN TROUBLE-"

"i'm okay, bro." Sans grinned, climbing back to his feet. "just some bad dream, right?"

"OH." Papyrus really didn't know what to make of his brother. When was the last time he'd bothered to explain anything to him? When was the last time he'd smiled so sincerely towards him? He fidgeted with the shoulder guard of his armor. "THEN I AM SORRY TO HAVE INTRUDED. UHM, G-GOODNI-?"

He was interrupted by Sans wrapping him in a hug, a tight one that he couldn't escape from despite jumping in surprise the moment he was grabbed. "S-S-SANS!?"

Sans chuckled in relief that his arms didn't go through him, that he didn't disintegrate or disappear, and tightened his grip. "thank you for worrying, bro. i love you."

Papyrus trembled. "YOU... WHAT?"

"i love you. i don't think i say that enough anymore. might've... might've given ya the wrong impression..."

Papyrus could barely contain his glee at his brother's words, carefully putting his arms around Sans, as though he might disappear. "...I... I LOVE YOU TOO, BROTHER! Y... YOU SHOULD... GET SOME REST, I THINK? YOU MUST BE VERY TIRED."

Sans laughed heartily. "more tired than you know, paps."

The nickname was the thing that threw him off the most. Sans had _never_ called him by a nickname before; only 'moron' and 'idiot' and 'stupid', but 'Paps'? He masked his excitement and confusion by patting Sans on the head. "TH-THEN GO AHEAD. I'LL... I'LL LEAVE YOU ALONE. I'M MAKING SOME SPAGHETTI, IF YOU WANT SOME! LATER, I MEAN."

Sans slowly pulled back from his brother, smiling up at him, the crying having finally subsided some. "that sounds good. i'll think about it. thanks, bro."

Papyrus slowly backed away from Sans, grinning brightly, not sure whether it was because his brother had just agreed to eat his spaghetti willingly or because _his brother? Agreed to eat his spaghetti? WILLINGLY?_ But he didn't want to break whatever magic was at play. "GOOD! THEN I SHALL LEAVE PLENTY FOR YOU WHEN YOU FINISH YOUR POINTLESS...ERM... I MEAN COMPLETELY NECESSARY NAP!"

He slammed the door shut, eliciting a soft laughter from Sans. When the laughter faded, he looked back to his bed. Had it really been a dream? A cold feeling grew in his chest, a fear that he'd never known in his life. No, he'd never conjure something that intense on his own. But what had he seen, then? A glimpse of the future? Was this a side effect of the research he'd been doing, or the manipulation of space-time? He'd never been able to jump _this_ far before, and not backwards like this.

That human. He scowled. If he ever saw that human again... if they turned out to be real... he might have to reconsider keeping his promise to the lady on the other side of the door. While it might be too far to say that he would protect his brother at all costs... he wasn't losing him again. ...Or, ever. Whichever it was, he wasn't letting it happen.

He grinned, feeling the _determination_ flow through him.


	3. No More Humans

"SANS, HAVE YOU BEEN SLACKING IN YOUR SENTRY DUTY!?" With his hands on either hip bone, Papyrus towered over his brother. "I THOUGHT I IMPRESSED ON YOU HOW IMPORTANT IT IS TO WATCH FOR HUMANS!"

"well, let's see. have there been any humans?" Sans grinned.

"NO, BUT-"

"then it looks like my job is done." He snickered. "no need to watch for something that's never coming, right?"

Papyrus began stamping his boot repeatedly, flailing his arms. "THAT'S NOT THE POINT! THE POINT IS THAT A HUMAN _MIGHT_ COME THROUGH, AND IF THEY DO, WE NEED TO TAKE THEM TO KING ASGORE IMMEDIATELY! IT'S OUR ONLY HOPE FOR-"

Sans tugged on his brother's shoulder guard, his grin getting bigger. "there won't. be any. more. humans."

Papyrus halted in his tantrum, regarding Sans with surprise. He may have kept an even tone as always, but he'd spoken so firmly, giving no ground to the idea that a human would come from the above world.

"SANS, YOU CAN'T KNOW THAT. REGARDLESS, YOU HAVE YOUR JOB TO DO, AND I HAVE TO RECALIBRATE THE PUZZLES. I SUSPECT MORE THAN A FEW HAVE BEEN TRIGGERED BY SNOW DRIFTS BY NOW."

"go ahead and recalibrate your puzzles, bro. but i'm tellin' ya, the effort's a waste of time. you'd be better off visitin' grillbz and trying something other than that spaghetti you keep ruin-... making." This time, the grin took a strained edge.

"YOU KNOW I DETEST GRILLBY'S!" He shouted, then sighed. "VERY WELL. YOU MAY NOT TAKE YOUR JOB SERIOUSLY, BUT THAT ONLY MEANS THAT THE GREAT PAPYRUS SHALL BE ABLE TO CATCH THE HUMAN ON MY OWN, WITHOUT YOU-"

Sans' grip on his armor tightened, and Papyrus was yanked down a few inches to a pair of lightless eyes. " _you will not catch any humans on your own._ "

Papyrus huffed, pulling himself free from his brother's grasp. "IT IS NO SURPRISE THAT YOU DO NOT BELIEVE IN ME, BROTHER! BUT MARK MY WORDS, I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WILL SUCCEED IN CAPTURING A HUMAN! I SHALL TAKE THE HUMAN TO THE KING, AND I _WILL_ BE A ROYAL GUARD! JUST YOU WAIT AND SEE!"

Without waiting for any retort from Sans, Papyrus stalked back towards the puzzles he still needed to tweak to perfection. The grin dropped from Sans' face as he watched the orange cape disappear into the forest, and he shoved his hands in his pockets with a sigh. He was _trying_ , damn it, but Papyrus didn't change, and the old irritation was still there. His brother just didn't understand, he _couldn't_ understand, and even though being nicer was... definitely more pleasant... he had to fight telling Papyrus off for all of the small ways he drained Sans' patience.

Another sigh. He loved his brother. And after years of treating him like dirt, he had to unlearn a lot of bad behavior. The transition wasn't made any easier by Papyrus acting like he was about to spring some sort of ultimate prank on him, being paranoid about every smile and every compliment. But how could he possibly explain to him why it was his behavior had changed so drastically?

The foot crunching through Papyrus' skull. The dust intermingling with the snow. The ungodly scream Sans had loosed on his brother's death. Inside his pockets, his hands were shaking violently. He wished he could dismiss it all as a dream, but no, it was too vivid, too horrifying. He couldn't have imagined what he saw. He had no idea what a human was even supposed to look like. And yet, there was no doubt in his mind that what he'd seen had been a human.

He glared in the direction of the gate. _There would be no human_. There couldn't be. If a human arrived, it would mean that what he saw would happen again. The human would put on a sweet face, smiling and dutifully making their way through puzzles, even giving that stupid frozen spaghetti a try just to manipulate Papyrus. Oh god, how happy Papyrus had been just to hear a compliment from someone! He'd been beaming from crown to toebone, bragging about how cool the human was.

But then the human began killing everyone. It had been a slaughter, a massacre. So many of the people Sans had become familiar with since arriving in Snowdin, suddenly gone. And Papyrus had been heartbroken that his new would-be friend had turned out to be so cruel.

"I NEVER THOUGHT I WOULD SEE THE DAY WHEN A SKELETON WOULD BE THE ONE CALLING SOMEONE ELSE HEARTLESS! NYOO HOO HOO~!"

And Papyrus had taken it upon himself to stop the human, once and for all. God knows that he knew how to fight. But he could never kill. And there was no stopping a creature whose LOVE had gone up so high so quickly except to kill them.

Sans pulled his hands out, only to put them over his face. He was breathing heavily, the memory rattling inside his skull with a sharp stab everywhere it touched. If a human came, they would kill Papyrus again. So, no humans were going to come. He knew the logic was wrong, but if he refused to visit the gate anymore, if he refused to act like a human was coming, then he wouldn't be where he was when that nightmare began. He wouldn't be hiding from the human child and let that creature destroy everything, _everything_.

He wouldn't argue with his brother anymore. He wouldn't ignore him, either. He wouldn't regret having said horrible things right before his brother died, because _his brother wasn't going to die_. And if he didn't treat him cruelly, then that nightmare would never happen.

He could thwart fate by refusing to play its game. He'd been given a second chance to do everything right, though he didn't know by what power. Had this all been related to those strange ripples in time when the human had arrived before? He remembered the fragment of the human soul merging with his own, a strange surge of power. And he felt different now. Not any angrier; on the contrary, he felt more stable, more secure, more... _determined_.

He clenched his fist. That's right. He had the power now to stop the human (that would never come). He'd been practicing summoning the Gaster Blaster, and found that not only was it easier to bring it about, he could summon more simultaneously. His control over them and his own powers had gotten stronger. He could protect his brother.

But he wouldn't have to.

Because the human would never come.

A rumble echoed through the forest, coming from the direction of the ruins.


	4. The Right Thing

No. _No_. It couldn't. The gate couldn't be opening again. _It couldn't be opening again_.

Pressing his hand over his forehead, Sans fought a ripple of panic that shook him to the core. The sound was exactly the same; the creaking, the rumble. How could this happen again? It wasn't supposed to happen at all! He did everything to avoid triggering the same events! Was the human so determined to come through and kill everyone that they would ignore the rules Sans was trying to impose on reality?

He dropped both hands to his sides, his expression stuck in a rictus of terror. Images played over the back of his vision, images of dust everywhere, monsters pinned and left to die, the librarby burning, burning, _burning_ -

Ow, his eye! He recoiled as the fierce heat returned to his left eye in full force, bursting with energy he'd never even known before. He knew he'd gotten stronger, somehow, but never had his eye bothered him like this. It _seared_. He stumbled back to his sentry post, gathering his wits about him as best he could, willing himself to calm down so that the pain would stop. Even as the glow receded, his bones rattled.

Soft little crunches in the snow approached, and he wheeled around to face the source. The human. They were the same human from that nightmare, that timeline that he'd forced from his mind, the timeline he'd pushed to bury under newfound appreciation for his brother. The same rounded features, the same helmet of hair.

He glowered, feeling the hot anger bubbling inside him again, and prepared to launch at the human- fuck _capturing_ this beast, he was going to _kill_ them before they had a chance to do it all again- when he stopped, gripping the desk of his post with the realization; the eyes were different.

The human searched around them with wonder, arms huddled in front of them as though to shield them from anything that might be lurking in the shadows. Their posture was faintly stooped, almost cringing, and their steps were shorter than he remembered the human ever taking. And the sleeves... no dust. No dust clung to their sleeves.

No, no, this wasn't how he remembered it... had he remembered wrong? Had he imagined the whole thing? Had his vision been nothing more than a highly intuitive dream? Just as he fretted his understanding of reality, the human spotted him with a small jump of surprise.

After a moment of regarding each other warily, the human beamed broadly, giving a wide wave and calling, "Hello!" in a voice so sincerely warm, it melted the chill left by the last words the human had said to him in his nightmare.

His eyes narrowed. No, the human had been cunning before. They'd done everything to win over everyone in the town, only to seed destruction and pain everywhere they went. He wasn't going to fall for it again, not again, _he couldn't do it again_ -

"Uhm, uh... s-sorry to bother you, mister..." the human child had drawn closer, their finger tugging the corner of their lips shyly. "You look like a skeleton! Are you a skeleton?"

"...yes... yes i am." he started, guarded, fighting to keep his expression neutral. "and you look like a human. Are you... a human?"

The child giggled, and nodded. "Goat-Mommy told me that there were lotsa creatures around here that might be scary, but are probably really nice. Are you nice like she said?"

"depending on who you ask, i'm not a very nice person, no," he grinned reflexively. "but i'd like to think i'm not that scary, either."

The human nodded firmly, the hair helmet shifting with the movement. "You don't look scary to me! I'm not apposed to talk to strangers, but..." they tilted their head, giving him a sweet smile. "You don't feel like a stranger to me!"

Sweat trickled from his crown, and he thanked his lucky stars that he was able to keep his grin going. Was this child playing some sort of game with him? Could the human remember everything? If they did, then if Sans slipped up, he could trigger the very thing he wanted to avoid the most; unleashing the human on the rest of the Underground.

His thoughts swirled in his head, interrupted only when two tiny hands gripped at the sleeve of his coat. Their eyes stared up at him with quiet wonder and joy, a warmth shared between them that only befuddled him further.

"I like you, Mister! You've got a round head and a big smile! You're like a cartoon, but even better, because I can touch you!"

"that so? huh. never thought of it that way. say, kid, you got a name?"

They did. Sans told them his name, too; it felt only fair, given how quickly they'd shared theirs with him, and with a genuinely innocent smile to boot.

"I like you, Sans!" the child giggled, rocking back and forth on their toes and heels, tugging his sleeve along with the movement. "I can tell you're a nice person... to the bone!"

They let out another burst of giggles at their own pun, and Sans joined in with a faint chuckle despite himself. The fear was draining out of him through their touch, and his grin was becoming more genuine by the second. The other human, the one who looked exactly like this one, hadn't bothered with jokes. A smile, perhaps, and compliments, but not once did they bother with a joke.

"well, i'd love to keep _jawin'_ with ya out here, but you look like you're gettin' cold, kid. how 'bout you start making your way thattaway, and get someplace warm?"

They shook their head vehemently. "D'wanna. Wanna stay with you. Can you come with me, Mr. Sans?"

The grin faded a bit. "'fraid not, kiddo. i've got a lotta work to do, and i don't think my brother would be pleased seein' me hangin' out with a human, given that he wants to capture you and all."

"Capture? Me?" The human stared blankly. "Why? Did I do something wrong by coming here?"

 _Yes, yes you did, you disgusting creature, you_ _ **murdered everyone**_ \- Sans stopped the running dialogue of fear from escaping his grin. "you're not hurting anyone by bein' here, kiddo, 'least so far as i can tell. but humans aren't exactly well-liked down here. it's part of the history."

"Oh." The human frowned thoughtfully. "But I didn't do anything to any monsters? In fact, I really like you!" They snuggled Sans' bony fingers to their face with a contented sound. "I want to get to know more n' more of you!"

He stared at the human, his smile dripping from his face. The memories of that life that time had abandoned lurked just behind the surface for him, but they were so incompatible with what he saw standing in front of him, what he saw cuddling to him, he doubted himself. He stooped, placing his free hand on their shoulder.

"hey, kiddo. you should be able to make it to town okay on your own, alright? i'll be out here, and if you really get stuck, maybe i can help you. no promises, though. 'specially because my brother is the one so adamant on catching you."

They weighed their options, looking sadly at Sans' hand, and released him with a sigh. "I guess humans were really mean to monsters a long time ago, huh? I was picked on a lot, back in school. S'why I ran away. An' it made me mad, _so mad_ , I 'member wanting to teach 'em a lesson. But when I was mad, a part of my heart hurt to think of doing something to 'em. But..." they smiled up at him softly. "... I understand why someone who's been hurt might want to teach me a lesson, even if I didn't do anything."

Sans ruffled the kid's hair. "that's big of you, kiddo. i think any punks who gotta pick on someone else deserve some sorta dunkin', but i like that you're not interested in doin' anything about it."

They giggled in response, happy at his touch. "You're nice, Mr. Sans. Is your brother as nice as you?"

He paused, his grin vanishing in an instant. The human just had to wedge their words directly into the sore spot, didn't they? He forced out a chuckle. "he's a handful... but... he's probably a lot nicer than i am."

"Then..." they put both hands over their mouth in joy. "If I say sorry to him, do you think he'll be my friend, too?"

He didn't mean to pause for so long, but his thoughts kept circling in his head. They had to be planning something with his brother, didn't they? They would smile and pretend to love Papyrus' spaghetti, and be all sweet and charming, but in the end, this human had to be a cunning little thing, didn't they? Waiting for the opportunity to slip the knife between the ribs? They didn't give him the impression that they meant harm, and they were _so different_ now, and there was no sign of dust or malice to be found, and yet...

The skull being smashed by their foot. The garbled scream of his brother as the last of him crunched out of existence. The dust scattering.

He grabbed their arm, frowning. "why do you want to be his friend?"

They cringed at the sudden grip, looking to Sans in surprise. "Because... because I want to be _your_ friend, and if I like _you_ that much, then I'll probably like your brother, too?"

He clenched tighter, bending further down, the light flickering out in his gaze. "i don't believe you. what did you come here for?"

Their eyes watered with tears. "I-I don't... I don't understand... why are you being so mean to me, Mr. Sans? D-did I make you mad?"

A pang in what undoubtedly would have been his heart if he'd had one stabbed at his conscience, and to keep it from spreading, he tightened his grip further. "are you telling me you don't remember _what you did_?"

Eyes widening, they watched Sans as he slipped even more into the paranoia that he'd earned after witnessing his brother's murder. They sniffled. "... What I did? Wait... was... wasn't that... wasn't that a dream?"

Sans threw the child to the snow, furious. "you _do_ remember! you sick, sadistic little beast! how dare you pretend-"

They began bawling, curling up in the snow. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm _sorry_! I didn't mean to! I was just scared and alone and-and-and _i_ got so mad, and so _scared_ , but-"

" _that's no excuse for what you did!_ " He growled darkly, advancing on the human, feeling his eye burning again. "you killed my brother! you killed _everyone_! but i won't let you do it again, _i won't_!"

"B-but that's why I'm here!" They curled their hands over their face. "I hated everything, I hated so much that it hurt! I couldn't even breathe sometimes! It felt like someone else was pulling me along. And then I fought you!"

They pulled back one tear-soaked sleeve to meet Sans' ever brighter gaze. "You stopped me. And when it was over, I... I felt your pain! I felt you hurting so badly because of what I'd done! And I felt... I felt like you were connected to me after that."

The fragment. Sans glanced to his hand, which had started glowing with his magic. Hadn't he gained more power after that encounter? After he'd crushed the soul with his own hand? After that piece had entered him? He clenched the hand into a fist, renewing the power. "so you feel like you deserve another chance?"

"I coulda just brought myself back before you fought me... I've done it before... but I didn't wanna. I didn't wanna fight anymore. Your sadness, it made _me_ sad. And when it touched me, I-I wanted to start over, to start _all_ over. M-monsters weren't so bad, if any of them had the kind of warmth _you_ had when you touched me!"

He shivered. "you... you want to _repent_?"

They retracted from their fetal huddle, just enough to get on their knees and look up at him. "I want to be good. I want to...to love like you love your brother. And when I tried again, and I stopped listening to that little voice, I was... was so _happy_. Like being wrapped in a blanket!"

He stepped closer, watching their expression for any sign that the earnest plea was insincere. Any sign that they were plotting. Any symptom of the murderer that they'd been before. But it was true; the hostility was gone. He couldn't see anything but innocence in their gaze, in the trembling. Their fear.

"hey kid... i believe you." He grinned.

They smiled hopefully, letting a few more tears slip down their cheeks. "You do?"

"yup. so i'm gonna help you make up for everything you did before." He reached out his hand to help them to their feet. They accepted his aid, happily cupping both hands around his again, a faint pink coming to their face in their relief.

"I want to do the right thing!" They agreed.

He yanked them close, his eye glowing and burning so intensely that even they could feel the heat radiating off of it.

"if you want to do the right thing..." His opposite hand was wrapped in his magic again, vibrating with his hate. "... _then don't come back this time_."

In the midst of patting the snow back into place after resetting the switch puzzle, Papyrus whirled around towards the direction of his brother's sentry post as a blood-curdling scream filled the air, cutting off abruptly.


	5. Blood On His Hands

"SANS?"

The sight before Papyrus froze him to the spot once it fully registered in his vision. His brother was standing over a crumpled figure, a creature that Papyrus didn't recognize. His head was bent forward, and as the glow faded from his hand, the red splatter was highly visible against the white of his bones. The same red substance was staining the snow around him, and yet, Sans remained perfectly still.

"SANS? WHAT HAPPENED? I HEARD A SCREAM!" He asked, taking another step forward. At the crunch of the snow beneath Papyrus' boot, Sans' head jerked up, and he spun on Papyrus faster than he'd ever seen his brother move in his life.

A wild look had taken Sans' expression, a grimace more foul than his skeletal grin, his eye glowing brightly. The red liquid was more prominent on him from the front; his shirt, jacket, and shorts had been splashed, a trickle running down one leg, and of course, it still dripped from his hand. He had very clearly He stared at Papyrus without recognition in a stretched moment, and Papyrus grinned awkwardly, deeply alarmed to see his brother like this. Finally, the glow and grimace faded, and as his senses returned to him, Sans's face fell completely.

"...papyrus, bro... you... " He started shaking. He stared at his hand, covered with that red stuff, in mounting horror.

"SANS, W-WHAT IS THAT?" The fear in his brother's eyes was the worst thing for Papyrus. He continued closer to him, reaching out his arms for him. "WHAT HAPPENED?"

"don't touch me. i don't... i _can't_..." Sans brought his hand over his burning eye, cringing at the feel of that red liquid- that _blood_ \- touching his face, but needing to shield his eye somehow. He'd killed the child. He'd _killed_ them, in cold blood. Well, in a manner of speaking; in fact, the blood was warm, slick and hot compared with the chilly cavern air.

One stab was all it took, straight through their heart. Powered by his magic as it was, he practically met no resistance. The human hadn't been built from steel or stone, but flesh, flesh that didn't dissolve when they died. Instead, at his feet was... He turned back towards the body, so small and frail-looking in the snow that cradled it. A corpse. Humans lingered, in more ways than one.

He'd already been resolved to this before, when his brother had died. He'd been resolved to extract his revenge, to do _whatever it took_ to stop the human from continuing on their path, had hardened himself to emptiness. So why did it feel so cold, now? Why was he shaking so violently?

"...YOU ALRIGHT? PLEASE, SAY SOMETHING, SANS!" Papyrus' voice trickled in over the dull roar in his head, and Sans recalled his brother's presence in an instant. Worry was written into every feature, and even the forced grin on Papyrus' face didn't mask how deeply disturbed he was at the scene.

"...d-don't worry about it, b-bro..." Sans grinned weakly, taking a few steps forward before a wobbly feeling in his legs tripped him up. He fell to the ground, just outside of the spread of red in the snow.

"HEY!" Papyrus was instantly there, helping Sans back up again, his own hands trembling at this point. "TALK TO ME. I MEAN IT! YOU'RE SCARING ME!"

Something else hot and wet trickled from his eyes, and Sans realized he was crying. No, no, this was all wrong. He did what he had to do, there was no way he was wrong. But the kid's eyes when his hand disappeared inside of them, so bright and agonized all at once- he buried his face in the stupid costume chestplate of his brother's outfit.

"... the human. i had to stop the human, they were-" He choked. "they were going to kill you, kill _everyone_ , and i couldn't stop them."

If he had hair, Papyrus expected it would have been standing straight up at this display from his brother. He only remembered being treated as an annoyance, someone that Sans could never open up to in a million years. The moment his face had pressed to him, seeking his _comfort_ , Papyrus worried that some bizarre shift in reality had occurred, and that the person currently clinging to him was no longer his brother.

But he was. For the first time in... forever, maybe? He was treating Papyrus like his brother... even if the things he was saying were nonsensical. He lightly cradled his brother, gloved hand on top of Sans' head, unsure if the moment he embraced him that Sans would reject him as usual. Despite the overwhelming worry for his brother's state, Papyrus couldn't ignore the light fluttering feeling of validation from all of this.

"WHAT YOU ARE SAYING MAKES NO SENSE, SANS." He grinned awkwardly. "IF THEY _WERE_ GOING TO KILL EVERYONE, THEN YOU ALREADY STOPPED THEM! ALTHOUGH, YOU KNOW, THE KING REALLY WANTS THE HUMAN SOULS. WAS KILLING THE HUMAN NECESSARY?"

So quietly that Papyrus wasn't even sure he'd heard him, Sans muttered, "yes. yes it was."

Papyrus glanced over to the corpse, more than a little unnerved at the sight of persistent death. The tiny human could have been a doll, lifeless but still intact. Well, aside the gaping hole in their chest. "SO THAT IS A HUMAN? I WOULD HAVE THOUGHT THEM TO BE... BIGGER. ESPECIALLY IF THEY SCARED YOU SO MUCH!"

"you don't know what they're capable of, papyrus. you don't know... you didn't see..."

"WELL, NO! I WAS BUSY TAKING CARE OF MY PUZZLES!" He chuckled, though he couldn't fight the chill at Sans' abnormal reticence. "BROTHER, I STILL DON'T UNDERSTAND WHY YOU KILLED THE HUMAN. IT'S NOT LIKE YOU."

"i couldn't let it happen aga... i couldn't let it _happen_." Sans finally withdrew from Papyrus, wrapping his arms around himself. "if i'd let them go, that human would have charmed everyone with their smile, would have gotten you thinking they were your friend..." A haunted look filled his gaze. "...i can't tell you how i know. but i do. i did... i did what needed to be done."

"IF YOU SAY SO, BUT BROTHER, THIS IS STILL BAD. WE DON'T GET VERY MANY HUMANS AROUND HERE, AND KING ASGORE REQUIRES MORE HUMAN SOULS IN ORDER TO FREE US!" Papyrus folded his arms, sighing sadly. "NEXT TIME, BEFORE KILLING THE HUMAN, COME FIND ME AND WE'LL SUBDUE THEM TOGETHER!"

A sudden shift in Sans' expression punched Papyrus as surely as a blow to the head. " _never. you're never meeting a human. i won't let them near you!"_

Taken aback, Papyrus fumbled over words, his jaw working but nothing coherent leaving him. Finally, he fumed. "SANS! I NEED TO CAPTURE A HUMAN! OR DID YOU FORGET ABOUT MY PLAN TO BECOME A ROYAL GUARD AFTER HELPING UNDYNE AND THE KING WITH THE HUMAN SOUL!?"

"they're _dangerous_ , papyrus!" The years-old frustration resurfaced. "if you weren't such a total idiot you wouldn't pursue them! they'd kill you in an instant and that would be it! no royal guard, no friends, nothing! you'd just be _dead_ and the human would... the human would...!"

"I AM NOT SO HELPLESS AS TO FALL TO A CHILD, SANS!" Papyrus snarled. "I SHOULD HAVE KNOWN YOU THINK SO LITTLE OF MY ABILITIES! YOU'VE NEVER SEEN ME FOR HOW GREAT I AM! YOU'VE DONE NOTHING BUT TEAR ME DOWN! UNDYNE TELLS ME THAT I AM, IN FACT, VERY TOUGH!"

Balling his fists, Sans couldn't feel the tears still coming from his eyes anymore. "i. will. not. watch. you. _die_!"

"YOU SHALL NOT WATCH ME DO ANYTHING, SANS!" He straightened his back, and turned to walk away. "YOU NEVER PAY ATTENTION ANYWAY! BUT SOMEDAY, WHILE YOU'RE NOT LOOKING, I WILL BECOME SO POPULAR THAT YOU'LL TRY TO BE MY FRIEND, AND I'LL JUST SAY, 'WHAT BROTHER!? NO ONE HAS BEEN A BROTHER TO ME!' AND IGNORE YOU, AND THEN _YOU_ WILL FEEL ABANDONED BY YOUR BROTHER!"

"you're an idiot, papyrus." He choked on his nastiness, but it came out anyway.

Silence filled the space between them as Papyrus paused his retreat to glare back at Sans. This time, though, the hurt burned in his eyes, a hateful look Sans had never seen from him in his life. "...YOU BETTER CLEAN THAT UP, OR YOU'LL GET IN TROUBLE FOR THWARTING THE KING'S PLANS. I WILL HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH YOUR MISTAKE."

With that, he departed towards town, his cape swaying behind him as he walked. Sans stared after him, torn between unleashing another torrent of insults and feeling his own despair rising in his chest. He had his brother, he was still alive, the human had been stopped, and none of that nightmare persisted. Instead, his brother hated him. How much more keenly he felt that now, after realizing the love still nestled in him despite the years of being aggravated by him! If only he could go back again, stop himself from being hateful, say everything right! But going back would mean the human might survive... no. No, he couldn't allow that.

He laughed bitterly to himself through his own tears. He may be hated by Papyrus, but at least his brother was still alive. He'd weather the disappointment any day over never seeing his brother parade around town in that ridiculous costume again. No, this was... acceptable. Going back now would be a waste.

An ill feeling grew from the back of his mind, washing over him in an instant. Something was unhinging itself, and he couldn't tell for a moment if it was himself or the world around him. A searing pain filled his eye- the eye that always burned- and soon, his vision went white. What was happening? What was-

His eyes opened, and his ceiling blurred into view. His ceiling? The ceiling of his room?

He sat up, horrified. There, his treadmill. The junk cluttering his room. His dresser. He was back in his room again, his legs tangled in his sheets. He stared down at himself; no blood. No mess whatsoever. No stains to indicate there had ever been anything there to begin with.

"no... it _can't_ be... i killed them...!" He leapt from his bed, throwing open his door... to an empty house. He stumbled forward to the balcony overlooking the rest of his house, and spotted Papyrus meticulously feeding the pet rock on the table.

"GOOD MORNING, SANS! I SEE YOU ARE FINALLY UP!" Papyrus grinned broadly. "I HAVE A GOOD FEELING ABOUT TODAY! I BELIEVE THAT WE SHALL FINALLY SEE A HUMAN ARRIVE!" He posed, hands on his hips. "AND THE GREAT PAPYRUS SHALL CAPTURE THEM! NYEH HEH HEH HEH!"

Sans collapsed against the balcony, horrified. "no... no, no... no... it can't... it can't happen again... no, no no... no..."

"DON'T WORRY, BROTHER! YOUR HELP SHALL BE INDISPENSIBLE IN CAPTURING THEM! WE JUST NEED TO GO AND CALIBRATE THE PUZZLES AGAIN- YOUR SLACKING HAS LET THEM FALL INTO DISARRAY AGAIN!" Papyrus wagged a finger at his brother. "BUT WORRY NOT! THE GREAT PAPYRUS HAS A PLAN TO MAKE THEM EVEN BETTER THIS TIME!"

Sans cradled his head in his hands, nausea overtaking him. He would have counted his blessings that he was a skeleton, instead of something more fleshy, had he not been awash with horror. The timeline had reset again. He was back at square one. Even though he'd killed the human with his own two hands, the soul... the human _soul_ had persisted...!

...The fragment...?

He caught Papyrus staring at him strangely. He forced a grin.

"that's a good idea, papyrus. let's make the puzzles even better today, huh? i... i got a good feeling about the human coming today too..."

Even as the wheels began turning in his head, Sans couldn't ignore the pleased look on Papyrus' face.


	6. I Want To Hurt You

The soft crunch of footsteps in the snow approaching from the west no longer surprised him. He'd come to expect it, as sure as he expected to be woken by nightmares. An endless stream of one nightmare, lately. He got no rest, because sleep happened in a timeline before he woke up, and every time he woke up, it was after encountering the human.

Sans turned to face the human child as they sauntered forward, a hateful sheen in their eyes. Sometimes, the human charged forward by now, or other times, cried and pleaded. But every time, Sans either stopped them... or died. That was an experience he'd never hoped to experience, much less remember. A hostile blackness and emptiness that clung to him every time he woke up now. He never really knew what happened to the human after their encounter, on the occasions where he'd been dusted; but something was clearly stopping the human after that, something that sent the human back to the 'beginning'.

And every time that happened, Sans would wake up from that black place, as if nothing had ever happened to him. And every time, no one would remember any of it. Not even Papyrus, though he seemed slightly more aware of the discrepancies as things kept repeating themselves. He would ask if he'd already cooked them dinner, or if they'd already remade their puzzles. Sometimes, he'd give Sans a long, sad look, one unlike his usual stunned pain whenever Sans had said something hurtful. Something that suggested a half-memory of the things Sans could not remember.

It was easier to be gentler with his brother now, too. Papyrus hadn't changed a lick, but more than once, the human had managed to get to Papyrus first. He didn't bother to keep track of the times he'd watched his brother dissolve in front of him to the song of Sans' wretched screams. Instead, he counted the times he'd made his brother smile genuinely, happily. Puns came from him more than sarcastic jibes now, words of encouragement. Papyrus hated the puns, but the puns were easier to swallow than insults, and the attention was welcome all the same.

But things had come dangerously close to falling apart, once. The time the human had befriended Papyrus.

"SANS, WE NEED TO TALK," Papyrus had started sternly, frowning at his brother- who could do little more than shiver at the sight of the human clutching at Papyrus' hand. "IS IT TRUE THAT YOU HAVE BEEN BULLYING THE HUMAN CHILD?"

"bullying?" Sans could not believe that the dynamic between him and the human had been reduced to 'bullying'. "paps, bro, i haven't done anything to bully that thing."

"HOW RUDE! YOU DON'T CALL PEOPLE 'THINGS'!" Papyrus admonished. "THE HUMAN HAS TOLD ME THAT YOU PREVENT THEM FROM EVER ADVANCING FORWARD, THAT YOU STOP THEM FROM EVER FINISHING A PUZZLE!"

"heh heh," Sans chuckled despite himself. "no, i don't suppose they ever get the chance to complete a puzzle. i don't think they ever get around to starting them."

"THAT IS UNFORGIVABLE, SANS!" Papyrus shrieked. "WE MAY NEED TO CAPTURE HUMANS FOR THE KING TO GAIN ENOUGH POWER TO FREE US, BUT THERE'S AN ORDER TO THINGS! A HUMAN FAILING TO SOLVE A PUZZLE AND BECOMING CAPTURED IS THE SOCIALLY ACCEPTED METHOD OF DEALING WITH HUMAN INTRUDERS!"

Sans focused on the human, who hid their face behind Papyrus' hand and shivered. "so the human claims that i've been bullying them, huh? did they tell you about killing everyone in town?"

"W...WHAT!?" Papyrus went rigid. "WHEN DID THIS HAPPEN!? HOW-"

"oh, it hasn't happened yet, this time, but i guarantee you it will. that _thing_ ," he drew the word out deliberately, "will try to slaughter everyone. yourself included. they're just trying a new technique this time; use you to get to me."

Papryus scowled, flaring in offense. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN, 'THIS TIME'!? THIS HUMAN HAS ONLY JUST ARRIVED! SANS, I AM NOW CONVINCED THAT YOU HAVE FINALLY LOST YOUR MIND!"

"Papyrus, you told me yourself... he's a mean brother," the human interjected, rubbing their cheek against the skeleton's glove affectionately. "He says mean things to you all the time. He's been mean to me, too. He keeps threatening me and telling me I've done things that I haven't."

"don't even start with those crocodile tears," Sans started, but the words vanished as soon as Papyrus met his gaze; a hurt look, reminded of all the pain Sans had given him over the years.

"IT IS TRUE, SANS, THAT YOU ARE NOT KNOWN FOR YOUR KINDNESS. EVEN IF TODAY..." He suddenly choked, but forced out the rest in a strained voice. "EVEN IF FOR ONCE YOU'VE ACTED LIKE MY BROTHER... I HAVE EVERY REASON TO BELIEVE YOU HAVE NEEDLESSLY HURT THE HUMAN, WHO ONLY WANTED A FRIEND!"

"they don't want or need a friend, papyrus!" Sans cried. "they want a way to survive, because they know i'm going to kill them again, before they have a chance to-"

"DO YOU EVEN HEAR YOURSELF!?" Papyrus interrupted, stepping forward until the human was positioned behind him. "YOU HAVE ALWAYS BEEN A PAIN IN MY BACKSIDE, SANS, BUT YOU ARE THREATENING CHILDREN NOW! I THOUGHT THERE WAS SOMETHING STRANGE IN THE WAY YOU WERE TREATING ME TODAY. YOU HAVE CONVINCED ME THAT YOU ARE NOT WELL!"

Sans watched the human drift even further behind Papyrus, every bit the innocent and friendly kid they could muster the image of. He frowned. "bro, _bro_ , i'm serious... this kid can't be trusted. please, just... move away from the human... and we can talk about this rationally."

"I WILL DO NO SUCH THING! THE HUMAN REQUIRES COMPANIONSHIP AND PROTECTION- _FROM YOU_ \- AND I WILL NOT LET YOU HARM MY NEW FRIEND!" Papyrus sliced his hand through the air in a negative gesture, advancing on Sans as he spoke. "I HAD NOT THOUGHT YOU CAPABLE OF SUCH DERANGEMENT, BROTHER, BUT EVEN IF I TOLERATE YOU TREATING ME LIKE GARBAGE, MY FRIENDS ARE AN ENTIRELY DIFFERENT MATTER! THE ABUSE AND THREATS STOP HERE-"

" _papyrus, look out-!_ "

The human had seized the opportunity. Papyrus had blocked their movements enough that Sans could not see the moment when their stance changed, when the knife was back in their hands, when their demeanor had shifted. Instead, he only caught their foot moving rapidly towards Papyrus. In an instant, Papyrus' expression had gone from authoritative and pained to shocked, agonized; the knife pierced through his spine, disconnecting his upper and lower halves. The human flung him aside, continuing their momentum towards Sans.

Before the horror could set in, Sans reacted instinctively; capturing the human in his power, and slamming them between two trees rapidly, barraging them with bones until they were pinned, unable to move. The moment that the human ceased to be a threat, Sans let the battle mindset slip from his consciousness, and the grief set in.

" _papyrus_!" He screamed, running to and collapsing by his brother's side. He hadn't dusted fully, yet; his legs were still disintegrating. But he didn't have long.

"THEY BETRAYED ME..." he murmured, the light dimming in his expression. "THEy betrayed me, they lied... they lied about... everything..."

Sans barked out a sob, fighting the breakdown that was coming, the one he _knew_ was coming, that happened so often. "bro, please... i promise, i won't let them lie to you again... you don't have to lose faith in anyone ever again... please, just... just hang in there, don't let this..."

The bones of Papyrus' face came undone, and he fell to dust completely. What remained of Papyrus slithered through Sans's fingers into the snow. Sans clutched at his head, shaking so violently that he rattled. The fingertips dug into his skull so strongly as to scrape away tissue. He breathed heavily, shutting his eyes against his own nightmare, his _eternal_ nightmare.

Once again, Papyrus was dead because he couldn't trust Sans. Because Sans had spent so long acting like Papyrus was a nuisance instead of a person.

Sans had advanced on the kid, who struggled to breathe through broken ribs and a badly bruised face. Once upon a time, Sans had never thought himself capable of really hating anything; aggravated, sure, but hate seemed like an alien thing. _And yet_. Malevolence poured from him, a blue smoke rising from every orifice as he burned the heaviness in his soul.

"why do you do this?"

The human spat blood back at Sans' face. He didn't even flinch, letting the speckles of blood dot his cheekbones and teeth.

"you'll never win, human. i told you before not to come back. you didn't listen. but now you've killed him again." He bent slightly, just so that his face was perfectly level with the human's. "so i want to know; _why are you so determined to do this_?"

Tears leaked from the human's shining eyes. "I don't want to do this anymore. But you don't believe me. I hate you... _so much_... I don't even want to hurt anyone else anymore, but _you_..." The human writhed in place, truly pinned much to their chagrin. They smirked bitterly. "I'm doing it now because it hurts you. The more I can hurt you, the _better_. If I can use your brother to hurt you, then I will. If making you relive this hurts you, then I will."

His hand gripped either side of the human's broken face before he even realized it, pinching the shattered cheeks and bloodied lips. His breathing had gone completely ragged. "... _why_."

The human's eyes had flashed, and the ill feeling washed over him again. The world was coming undone... _again_. The universe being rewritten by the whim of a human child. He'd gotten so used to the shift by now, he only closed his eyes against the wave of time folding back in on itself.

His eyes had opened to his room.

Again.

The human approached from the west, and he knew what to expect. He knew he would kill the human, over, and over, _and over_. Somehow, making everything right wasn't important anymore. He knew it was useless to try anyway. But he could protect his brother. He could spend the rest of his existence making up for letting his brother ever _once_ die believing that Sans didn't love him. Maybe this was his hell. Maybe that was the reason this was even happening.

He grinned as he faced the human, none of it touching his eyes.

"you never answered my question," he stated simply, hands in his pockets. "we can do this again. we can fight again. i can kill you again. but you'll never win. you gain nothing from this useless enterprise."

The human regarded him in stony silence for several minutes. The silence was thick; they'd already exchanged words many times over the course of so many cycles. Sans could be patient; he had eternity, after all. If this wasn't the last go, he could always ask the human again next time. All he cared about was that, for right now, Papyrus was safe and sound, somewhere the human couldn't reach him.

"I told you..." the human began, hands clenched at their side. "... I want to hurt you."

"yes you did. and you have." Sans sneered. "but what do you _gain_?"

"I already have it. But you... you keep..." Fingers tangled themselves in their own hair, brushing it back from their face as they shuddered. "... You keep... killing me... you _never_ believe me... why don't you believe me?"

"do i really need to mention the mountain of dust that you've spilled as evidence against you?" Sans snorted darkly. "seriously, you tell me to believe you, but when it comes down to it, you're just a murderer. that's all you ever will be."

"But I want to stop!" They exclaimed, pointing at Sans. "I already told you that! I don't want to do this anymore! It's slowly _killing_ me every time I have to do this! It hurts so much, right here..." They patted over their heart, and this time, the crying began in earnest. "And it's your fault!"

Sans narrowed his eyes on the human. "my fault...?"

"You're much kinder than this. I know you are! You love so many people, in Snowdin, throughout the caverns! When you took a piece of me, I knew..." They shook their head. "I feel it in me, too. I want them to be happy! I want your brother to be happy, because _you_ want him to be happy! But you kill me, every time!"

Sans laughed, the bitterness stinging worse than before. "you're saying that you are tormenting me because i made you _feel_?"

" _YES!_ " The human screamed, then stamped their foot. " _NO!_ I don't know! Damn you! I don't want to fight you anymore! I don't want to keep repeating this! I'm so tired, _so tired_ , I just..."

"i told you before, kiddo. there's one way to stop this. just don't come back anymore. stop trying to force yourself through our world. you had the chance to be friends with everyone, and your answer was to kill them. so now, your choices are to die, and _stay_ dead, or to keep playing this fucking game with me."

This struck the human as visibly as a physical blow. They wrenched to their knees, hands pressing over their face as they began sobbing straight out. The display was almost enough to evoke pity from Sans... _almost_.

"...are you done?" He asked after a few minutes, unimpressed with what was surely yet another manipulation.

"I don't want to die... and I don't want _you_ to die, either. I can't be done... I have a life I want to live. I want to _live_ , and not doing the same thing over and over again!"

They stood, and for all the effort spent to clear their face, more water streaked from their eyes. They advanced on Sans, who tensed to see them draw nearer.

"and what does a little murderer like you have to live for?" Sans grinned.

"It's your fault," they said simply, watching him with a pained expression that reminded Sans in echo of his brother's pain. "And it's my fault, too. I know what I did was bad. I know you should be mad. I know why you're scared of me. But still... I don't wanna do it ever again."

"mhm."

The human stopped a few feet from him, suddenly smiling sadly through their own tears. "Because of you, I _feel_ something again... just like before. And feeling makes that other voice really quiet, something they don't understand."

"i'm not sure that 'genocidal maniac' is a feeling," Sans snorted.

The human pinched their eyes shut in a cringe, dropping their head forward until their hair obscured all but their mouth. Their arms were straight at their sides, shaking from the strain of holding them in place. When they spoke, it was soft, but unmistakable.

"The feeling you gave me was _love_."

 _Author's Note: No, this is not going in_ _ **that**_ _sort of direction, I promise. The human will explain themselves further next chapter. No skeleboning for the human_ _ **child**_ **.**


	7. Whatever It Takes

_**Author's Note: Oh my goodness, thank you so much for all of your feedback! I've been reading every last comment, and I can't tell you how much it's meant to me! This all started just as a hammering out of an idea for a personal headcanon, and has been evolving into its own thing. Thank you for walking down this path with me, and for enjoying it so much!**_

Sans couldn't fight the contemptuous chuckle that broke the silence between them. "love? you earn that on your own, kiddo."

The human shook their head vehemently. "I don't mean my Level Of Violence, I mean the emotion!"

"yeah, sure," he snorted. "after all you've done, after you just explicitly told me how much you want me to hurt, you're going to play like you've been feeling anything other than hate this entire time? ain't buyin' it, pal."

"I was empty before. I was scared; everything was new and different, and there were monsters, _actual monsters_ around me. " Their hands lifted to cover their face, shivering. "And there was this voice that told me they knew what was going on, and they could guide me. The moment they took over, everything fell away, and it felt like I understood everything so clearly.

"And then that hallway... your pain. I could feel your pain! You broke me, and just as I was gathering my determination to try again, to defeat you, you tore me apart. And then I touched you, became part of you, I think?"

"..." Sans flashed on the fragment of the human, the part that had become so integrated with himself now that he could scarcely tell the difference anymore. He had loathed that any part of him was shared with this abomination, but in time, it had become natural to borrow the power it gave him. He'd gotten stronger with every reset, but there was another part of him that was decaying, too. "...yeah, you're there. not my plan, but it works."

"You're trying to change things, too. To rewrite what you did to your brother," the human insisted. "And, just like you don't believe me, he doesn't believe you, either. He doesn't believe you when you say you love him. He thinks you're preparing to hurt him even worse."

That struck home. Even knowing how dangerous it was to lower his guard around the human, Sans tilted his head forward, feeling the light go out of his eyes. All of these resets had driven home exactly how much damage there had been to his relationship with his brother. The more he grew to love all of the things that used to annoy him about Papyrus, the more clear it was that Papyrus really had no faith in him. While he was pleased for the affection, every hug was treated like a joke, every compliment answered with a wary stare. And how many times had the human wedged themselves between the brothers by playing on Papyrus' insecurities?

His teeth ground together, raising his gaze back to the human with renewed anger. "well, that's one of those things i'll have to live with, i guess. if you ever stop this meaningless loop, i might even be able to make it up to him someday."

"I told you, I want to stop. I want to _help_."

Laughter erupted from Sans, the hysterical, hopeless kind of laugh that echoed in the hollows of his ribcage and threatened to call more tears. He gestured with his hand, sending a blue-tinted bone hurtling towards the human, who made no move to dodge it. The bone passed through their heart, and the human collapsed to their knees, no longer surprised by this power.

"i think you've 'helped' enough, you stupid kid!" Sans snarled, advancing towards them. "you know nothing of what i feel, so don't try and use that to weasel your way out of what's coming to you-"

" 'I'll give you something to believe in!' " They cut in, frowning. " 'Whatever it takes! I'll keep my room clean, I'll feed my pet rock, I'll eat your spaghetti, just don't lose faith in me anymore!' "

Sans stopped. "... what are you...?"

"It's the things you're saying, here," the kid said, patting over their heart. "I feel it even more when you use that attack on me. You want to say them all the time now. It's-it's like your version of a heartbeat!"

Growling, Sans raised his hand and commanded the magic that held sway over the human, pulling them forward to meet his gaze directly. "...so what's your point, huh?"

"So maybe it stops here," the child said softly, resting their tiny hands on Sans' outstretched, bony hand. "Maybe we don't have to kill each other, or hurt each other, anymore."

"that's not an option, buddy," Sans grinned. "i don't care how much of me you think you're channeling. i got your blood on my hands just as much as you've got dust on yours. just because time has washed 'em clean doesn't mean either of us can pretend we're not murderers."

"But you're _not_ a murderer, Sans." The human smiled softly. "You weren't until I was. And I was, until you gave me the feeling of love. Maybe the problem isn't that we can't wash the bad stuff away, but that we haven't tried."

"yeah? and whaddya propose we do to change any of that?"

"SANS!?" The excited voice cut through the heavy conversation, jolting both of their heads to face the approaching Papyrus. "SANS, IS THAT A HUMAN!?"

Sans stared, horrified; if Papyrus got any closer, he'd be in the killing range of this little beast. He grinned as broadly as he could. "yep, it is! hey, did you want to capture them? we can run 'em through one of your puzzles, see if they're capable of reaching your level of cunning."

Papyrus' gaze shifted between Sans and the human, not sure which was more shocking to see; a human, which had been so rare in the Underground that he'd never actually seen one in his life, or his brother being _nice_ to him. He'd been acting strange all morning, too; his smile had been warm, friendly. He'd greeted Papyrus, he'd helped fix his cape as it had started to slip out of place, he'd said he wanted to help him with his patrol around town; he'd even asked about his cooking lessons with Undyne.

Deciding that his brother's odd behavior could be explained by him simply coming around to his innate greatness after all this time resisting, Papyrus beamed. "BUT YOU'VE ALREADY CAPTURED THEM! SAY, BROTHER," he tapped his finger on his jaw thoughtfully, "HOW _DID_ YOU CAPTURE THE HUMAN? I THOUGHT THEY WERE WILY CREATURES."

"this one let their guard down. but you know, i didn't do it the right way. they need to go through our gauntlet of puzzles first, right? that way we can say we followed tradition, right?" Sans' grin grew ever larger as he directed his attention on the human. "say, kid... you wanna do our puzzles, right?"

The human glanced between the two skeletons, before settling on smiling at Sans. "That... sounds fun, actually! And then you can try to capture me again!"

"BRILLIANT!" Papyrus exclaimed. "THEN I SHALL READY THE PUZZLES! SANS, YOU SHOULD COME HELP! OTHERWISE, THE HUMAN MIGHT THINK YOU DON'T CARE ABOUT CAPTURING THEM!"

Papyrus stalked off in the direction of the, ahem, 'gauntlet' of puzzles the brothers had prepared, and Sans slowly lowered the human back to the snow. The moment their feet touched down, he broke the enchantment pinning them down.

"listen, kid. consider this your test of character. make it through these puzzles without touching a single hair, scale, or block of ice on anyone here, and maybe we can talk about finding some sorta 'solution' to our problem." Sans' grin grew cold, devoid of mirth. "an' if you fuck this one up, i'm perfectly willin' to go back to killing you for all eternity. so just keep that in mind goin' forward, huh?"

"Sans..." the human started slowly. "...I'll do it. And I'll be thinking of how we can make things work out for both of us to be happy... for all _three_ of us to be happy."

Sans gave them a nod, before trudging off through the snow himself. He had no faith that the kid could succeed in being anything but a devilish little creature, but hey, at least if they screwed around with things and hurt people, they were sure to reset time again. Sans had grown accustomed to the pattern; he could do it again. And maybe the kid was serious about making amends.

He just couldn't see how the kid would ever accomplish that.

"SANS, THERE YOU ARE!" Papyrus broke into his melancholy with his abrupt cheer, grabbing his shoulders in his excitement. "I CAN'T BELIEVE IT! THERE IS AN ACTUAL HUMAN!"

Shaken from his thoughts, Sans grinned. "yeah, bro. congrats! you're... you're pretty close to being a royal guard now, huh?"

"YES, I-" Papyrus stopped, realization striking him. "WAIT, DO YOU ACTUALLY MEAN THAT?"

" 'course I do, bro. it's not like you don't have the talent. and undyne wouldn't take you on as an apprentice if she didn't think so, right?"

"CAN... CAN YOU..." He struggled to keep his tone from revealing his joy. "CAN YOU SAY THAT AGAIN?"

 _Papyrus believed him!_ Sans felt his expression soften to see Papyrus watching him expectantly, happiness shining in his gaze. How long had it really been since Papyrus had been _happy_ to hear from Sans?

"...that you're totally going to join the royal guard soon? or that you're talented? because i thought you already knew both."

Papyrus turned away from Sans so violently he nearly ended up throwing his brother to the ground. He spun in the opposite direction, damping his eyes with his gloves and trying to mask his sniffling as best he could. When he could, he whipped back to his brother, hands on his hips.

"OF COURSE I KNEW THAT! BUT IT SURE TOOK _YOU_ A WHILE TO REALIZE MY GREATNESS, BROTHER!" He cackled loudly. "IT'S ABOUT TIME! _NYEH HEH HEH!_ "

Sans chuckled along with his brother. "sorry, bro. i guess i had an important wakeup call, or somethin'. come on, let's go set up the first puzzle for the human."

Papyrus let out a high-pitched squeal before clamping his hands over his mouth. He dropped them when he could confidently replace his giddiness with triumph. "TOGETHER, WE SHALL CAPTURE THE HUMAN! AND THEN I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WILL BECOME A MEMBER OF THE ROYAL GUARD! AND THEN, _THEN_ , I WILL BE... POPULAR!"

"heh. i bet you'll wake up every morning to the sound of people callin' your name, bro," Sans chuckled as he sauntered alongside Papyrus, gesturing for him to lead the way.

"THAT WOULD BE A PLEASANT BUT APPROPRIATE CHANGE!"

Walking together down the path towards Snowdin, Sans could almost feel the weight of his sins falling from his back. Just letting Papyrus talk about his future glory, his ambitions... it felt _good_. If he could sincerely spend the rest of his life letting Papyrus be happy, then maybe the hell he'd been enduring would be worth it after all.

-xxx-

"HUMAN! YOU HAVE ENDURED THE MOST GRUELLING TEST OF THEM ALL!" Papyrus proclaimed, fully shocked. "TO HAVE WITHSTOOD THE TEMPTATION OF MY SPAGHETTI...!"

The human cocked their knee inwards, tilting their foot out in a gesture of shyness as they fidgeted with the edge of their shirt. They smiled at him gladly. "I couldn't bring myself to do it! It looked so pretty, I didn't want to break it up just to eat it!"

Overwhelmed by the compliment, Papyrus reared back dramatically. "OF COURSE ! WHAT A FOOLISH MISTAKE ON MY PART! I MADE THE SPAGHETTI TOO PERFECT! NO ONE WOULD WANT TO EAT SUCH PRISTINE ARTISTRY!"

The human stifled a giggle. "So, have I passed your tests, yet?"

The question might have been said to Papyrus, but their gaze fell to Sans, leaving no question as to whom they were directing it towards. Sans glowered while his brother was swooning, but popped a grin back in place just in time for his recovery.

"i'unno, man. i think paps has something in store for you. but," he allowed some genuine approval into his tone, "you're not doin' too shabby."

"MY BROTHER UNDERSTATES YOUR SKILL, HUMAN!" Papyrus exulted. "BUT THE GREAT PAPYRUS HAS PREPARED A FANTASTIC PUZZLE FOR YOU, ONE THAT MAY REMIND YOU OF A CERTAIN WONDERFUL, AMAZING SKELETON!"

"did you push the snow around to look like your face again, papyrus?" Sans grinned.

"I WAS BORED WHILE WAITING FOR THE HUMAN. WHAT ELSE WAS I GOING TO DO, TALK TO YOU?" As soon as the words left his teeth, Papyrus regretted them; Sans had been in a seemingly good mood today, and had even been going along with whatever Papyrus had planned for once. He'd been so used to responding to his brother's ill treatment of him that he'd spoken cruelly. He pressed his hand over his mouth again, cringing against the horrible comments his brother was sure to make now.

Sans chuckled. "nah, you're too cool for something like that, papyrus."

For a brief moment, Papyrus forgot the existence of the human, eyes wide as he took in the sight of his brother smiling up at him, not a trace of sarcasm or bitterness in his tone. "OKAY, WHO ARE YOU, AND WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH MY BROTHER?"

The human tapped him on the arm, startling him back into focusing on them. They beamed. "I can't wait to try your You-shaped puzzle! I love playing in the snow!"

"THEN YOU SHALL BE REWARDED FOR YOUR LOVE OF PUZZLES, HUMAN! I SHALL AWAIT YOU AHEAD, WHEN YOU ARE READY! IF YOU DARE! NYEH HEH HEH HEH HEH!" Papyrus laughed himself away.

"This... is so much nicer... especially with you here, Sans." The human grinned. "Especially with you not trying to kill me."

"make no mistake, human. if i feel like this is another trick, your life will be over in an instant." The glow of happiness he'd shown his brother dropped away. "but maybe i'm tired of that dance. consider this your probationary period, kiddo."

The human sighed, running their fingers through their hair in a gesture of defeat. They met Sans' gaze again after a moment. "He's a lot happier now, isn't he?"

Sans pondered the statement, before giving another smile, if a little strained. "i think so."

"But it still hurts that he doesn't trust you, doesn't it?"

His glare could have pierced as surely as a spear. "is this really a line you want to cross right now? or are you trying to gauge how much pain i'm in so you can wedge it deeper?"

The human held up both their hands. "Okay, I deserved that, but no, I meant... I could feel it. His doubt. And I know how much it hurts to be doubted by someone you care about. I'm just... trying to understand what I feel, y'know?"

Sans frowned. "i can't blame him. and right now, my feelings don't matter much to me."

"But they matter to _me_. Not just 'cuz I can feel them sometimes, either."

"so you say." Sans still wasn't sure how much he believed them at face value, but they'd done an admirable job so far playing along with the charade, at least. "come on, kiddo. papyrus has a lot more for you to solve."

He started back down the road, hands shoved into his pockets. He was really tired of that nerve being touched, but it was true, wasn't it? It stung every time he was reminded of the things he used to say to Papyrus, that the only reason it stopped was because he'd seen his brother _die_. The human may have tormented him, but at least now he could start over, start doing things right by his brother.

The human giggled as they joined in stride beside Sans. They tugged on his sleeve to grab his attention back. "Hey, Sans, wanna know something?"

"what." He really didn't.

"I know what I can do to try and make everything up to you and to finally start being a good person for real."

"that so."

They snickered, then leaned in close to whisper, "I can give you my power."


	8. The Pattern Changes

_**Author's Note: Thank you all so much for your feedback! I'm tremendously humbled that you enjoy this fic so much!**_

Sans froze in place, his shock replacing the view of the path ahead with a vision of pure white. Uncomprehending, he tried to take in the sight of the human, and the moment he registered their smile back up at him, he ripped his arm away from them. "what kind of joke are you trying to pull here, kid?"

"It's not a joke!" While they had certainly been through a lot, and grown in ways that were not natural to their age, the human's age crept into their petulant tone. "I'm serious! I wanna give you my power! And then we can fix everything!"

"buddy, i'm not sure we have the same definition of 'fix'." His scowl tugged at his face bones. "you can't just 'give me' your power. whatever it is you do, it's not a normal power, something even beyond what i've studied before. i'm pretty sure, in fact, that it's linked directly to your soul."

The kid nodded. "I think so, too. I didn't have this power until that voice started whispering to me, and every time I use it, I feel like a piece of... _me_... is being touched. So, pro'lly my soul, yeah."

"kid, i can't take that power from you. there's no way. not unless i absorbed your soul." His grin broadened. "and that ain't happenin', regardless of whether you keep on the straight n' narrow this time or decide to-"

The human's smile had gone sad, a mix of remorse and acceptance flashing in their eyes before they slapped a grin over it that matched Sans's skeletal grimace.

"... y... you can't be serious."

"An' why not? It's the best way to solve everything!" They bolted ahead a few steps and whirled to face him, their smile growing. "I won't have to be scared or alone anymore, you won't have to be afraid of me becoming that voice again, and maybe we can use the power to go back even further, make it so's you were never mean to Papyrus!"

Sans' stare got bigger every passing second. "pal, it means you would _die_... and there's no way of knowing if giving me that power would even work like that. in fact, there's even a chance it'd make _me_ the one killin' everyone in sight."

"You've already got a piece of it. Does it make you want to kill anyone?"

Sans held out his hands, examining them as he searched for that fragment of the human's soul that was merged with his. "no... i can barely feel it anymore. it's so much a part of me it's blending in, like some sorta transplant organ. and even then i never _wanted_ to kill anyone 'cuz of it, i just wanted to kill _you_ 'cuz you were a menace."

"And you got stronger, too, didn'tcha?" The kid trod a little closer, putting their hands behind their back in a gentle linking of their hands. "You've been able to do more magic and summon more of those things."

"... _yes_." Sans frowned. "but that doesn't mean that i'll inherit that strange power of yours. an' kid, you're still missing the fundamental thing, here. you wouldn't _survive_ something like that."

The words hung heavy between them, thick as fog as the human folded their arms behind their back. They averted their gaze, their smile twisting. Despite everything, _everything_ that had happened between them, the eternal conflict, Sans felt a surge of pity. He grunted, loathing that any part of him felt dread at what the human was implying. He hiked up to the kid, not sure what part of him was furious at them anymore.

"kid, you've got a lot to atone for, that's sure as hell. but you know how you do that?" He jutted his finger in their face fiercely. "you _live_. you carry the weight of your sins and you try to be better than them. i can understand not wanting to face that... it's a damn heavy burden. but you can't bank on throwing your life away to solve things, because if you're wrong, then you lose the chance to make it right again."

"But you're the one who always wants me dead!" The human cried, their hands clutching each other.

"yeah, kiddo, i wanted you dead. it would solve a lot of my problems if you would stop coming back and makin' me relive this. i got no guarantees you're not just gonna go nuts and kill everyone again just yet, and my life would be so much simpler without havin' to make plans to kill you." He sighed. "but that's different from you tryin' ta make it up to everyone by sacrificing yourself. especially because i'm pretty sure that plan wouldn't work, and all you'd accomplish is creating more problems."

Their head tipped forward, their shoulders raised in a stiff posture of frustration as they struggled to find the argument against Sans. Instead, they spun in place to face away from him.

"I want it all to stop, too. I'm not sure I trust myself anymore, because even after things changed, I still enjoyed hurting you. And that... I don't want that anymore. I hate... that I have this power, and that I can't even do anything with it. I can't change anything!"

Sans nodded slowly, coming to stand beside them. "it sucks feeling helpless when you know exactly what needs to be fixed. but not everything can be fixed. some things, once broken, are never gonna be whole again. even if you have the glue to put it back together, the cracks are gonna be there as a reminder as to what happened."

His smile dipped, turning bittersweet. "i wanna fix things between my brother n' me, too. but the way i do it is by goin' forward, tellin' him how much i love him, building bridges where they were once burned. someday he'll believe me when i say it."

He nudged the quiet kid, his grin coming back in full force. "besides, kiddo, you don't mess around with time streams if you can avoid it. i got my shortcuts, but i don't travel backwards. you create all these ripples that screw up reality and create paradoxes, an' that's just a big giant mess. trust me, kid, it's better to just leave it alone."

"...I guess I've already kinda messed with it a lot, huh?" The human smiled sheepishly up at Sans.

"yeah, you did. i'd call it lucky that we haven't seen worse, except you kinda _made my life a living hell already_ , so i don't consider 'luck' to be a factor here." Just as the human tensed at the hostility, Sans laughed. "i'm givin' you a chance, buddy, and i believe that you wanna make things better, but there's _snow way_ i'm getting over what you've done."

"... Another cracked thing that can't be made whole again, I guess?" They started on down the path again, arms folded under their chest pensively.

"there ain't enough glue in all the world to put it back together again, waterbag." Anger, again. A sore spot that would never heal; an infected wound that would leak pus and burn forever. "another reason why tryin' to give me your power by dying would be a waste of your life."

The human's teeth clenched around a retort, and they shook with restraint. Sans watched them, wary, ready for any sign that the knife was going to come out. Instead, the human picked up their pace and strode far ahead, clearly wanting to be rid of Sans' company- at least for the moment.

He smirked, jamming his hands into his pockets, and strolled along behind them; couldn't let that human get out of sight, now could he?

-xxx-

Sans could not believe his eyes. There had to be some sort of fluctuation in space-time, some sort of explanation as to why he was standing in the same spot he stood so long ago, watching his brother trying to capture the human. He'd begun by anticipating the worst, his hand glowing with his energy in reserve; if he had to watch his brother die _again_ he just might have to tear down _everything_. But the human refused to fight. Papyrus threw everything he had at the human, only for them to dodge everything.

Despite the cold air, the human's effort had worked them into a sweat. They'd jumped despite the weight of Papyrus' magic, they'd scooted as far out of the way as they could, and despite the context of being captured, the human was beaming at Papyrus. Sans shivered; he wasn't terrified of the human deciding to take this fight to a violent end. He was terrified of them doing so the moment he dropped his guard, which he could feel happening the more he saw the human act like a... _person_.

"AHA! I'VE GOT YOU NOW, HUMAN!" Papyrus' triumphant squeal filled the air as his bones intersected in a pattern around the human, pinning them to the spot and preventing them from being able to move. "YOU HAVE FALLEN VICTIM TO MY CHARMS AND ALLOWED THAT TO DISTRACT YOU! BUT I PROMISE, WHEN I TAKE YOU TO UNDYNE, I WILL..."

Papyrus trailed off, his victorious pose sinking a bit. The human didn't even struggle against their captivity, smiling warmly at him instead. They wiggled their fingers; the bones weren't hurting them. Papryus scratched at his skull awkwardly.

"...YOU KNOW, IT OCCURS TO ME THAT IF I TURN YOU IN TO UNDYNE, I WILL PROBABLY NOT BE ABLE TO BE YOUR FRIEND, HUMAN." He frowned thoughtfully. "AND EVEN IF I BECOME POPULAR, I DO NOT THINK I SHALL SEE THE LIKES OF YOUR PUZZLE PROWESS OR YOUR CULINARY APPRECIATION AGAIN."

The human nodded slightly, giving a faint shrug of their shoulders. "I don't know, Papyrus, but I do know that I really like you. I want to be friends, too!"

Papyrus struggled with this, visibly fidgeting and arguing internally. Finally, with a groan of defeat, he sagged, and let the bones of his attack come undone. "I HAVE BEEN BESTED AFTER ALL!" He cried, reaching out to pull the human to their feet. Suddenly, his grin brightened. "BESTED _FRIENDED_!"

Just as the kid began laughing, Sans wondered if he'd somehow managed to enter another dimension entirely. One where the human was being sincerely friendly and his brother was making puns. The magic drained from his hand as his shock absorbed all of his focus. It was... _different._ The pattern had changed. A surge of relief broke over his consciousness, plummeting him to his knees, shaking.

A soft chuckle escaped his grin, then another, before he swallowed any further laughter. He couldn't let them know he was there yet. He had to still watch, make sure there was no knife, that his brother wouldn't die again- but broken from the thread still holding him together, he began weeping into his hands, his face buried in the snow.

His brother was _alive_. The human had spared him- no, they'd _embraced_ him- and was smiling with the kind of warmth Sans had taken so long to start showing his brother. They'd taken his hand, and Sans had felt the cycle burst open again. After a sharp inhale at the realization, Sans let out a barking sob of joy.

"SANS?" The sound had caught Papyrus' attention, and confused him; his brother had been off taking care of business elsewhere, saying he didn't have the heart to watch the human be so thoroughly trounced by Papyrus' great skill. He started off in the direction he'd heard the crying, the human's small hand still linked with his. "SANS, IS THAT YOU?"

Sans did everything he could to wipe his face clear, using his sleeves and letting his reflexive grin do most of the work. But the tears weren't stopping, not in time to hide it all from Papyrus, who came peeking around the tree with worry in his expression.

"SANS! WHY ARE YOU CRYING?" Immediately, Papyrus dropped to his brother's side, his hand at his back in a gesture of comfort. "IT'S NOT LIKE YOU!"

Sans chuckled weakly. "no, it's really not. i'm sorry, bro, i'm just... i'm so happy."

"YOU? HAPPY?" Papyrus narrowed his gaze suspiciously. "YOU HAVE NOT BEEN HAPPY IN YEARS, BROTHER! AND HAPPINESS DOES NOT MAKE YOU CRY! SADNESS MAKES YOU CRY! YOU MUST BE VERY CONFUSED."

Papyrus squeaked as Sans' arms went around him, pulling him close. The smaller skeleton buried his face in the chest piece of Papyrus' 'battle body', laughing into his brother's ribs. Papyrus shot the human an awkward glance, and was stunned to see that the human had tears in their eyes, too!

"OH NO! WHY IS EVERYONE CRYING!?" Papyrus shouted. The combined attack of both his brother and his new best friend crying defeated him, and he felt wetness on his cheekbones, too. "I DID NOT MEAN TO DO WHATEVER IT WAS I DID!"

Sans cackled. "you didn't do anything, paps. sometimes people cry when they're happy, too. aren't you happy?"

The human's hand went to Papryus' shoulder in support, and Sans was grinning up at him. Despite their tears, they did, in fact, appear to truly be happy. Papryus trembled; his brother had been acting weird all day. Compliments, encouragement. This hug, his tears. It was completely incongruous with what he knew about his brother, and yet, something he'd been hoping for for years. And now, not only did he have his brother hugging him tight, but a new friend who had so much in common with him!

"I AM!" He gleefully pronounced. "I _AM_ HAPPY!"

Sans' grin stopped being reflexive, sincerity creeping in. "then why are _you_ crying?"

Papyrus snuffled loudly, straightening his back to proclaim, "I'M NOT CRYING! THE GREAT PAPYRUS DOES NOT CRY! I MAY, HOWEVER, MAKE ALLOWANCES FOR WHEN EVERYONE IS HAPPY AND CRYING FOR STUPID REASONS!"

Sans laughed, the first genuine laugh he'd had in... in _so long_... it was like fresh bubbles in warm water running over his bones, a life brought to him after darkness in isolation. This laughter could probably never wash the blood from his hands, but it felt _good_. He exchanged a look with the human, who was giggling into their free hand in delight.

Sans spent some time collecting himself again, letting a very confused but pleased Papyrus soothe him with pats on the back, still shaking from the release of so much pent up fear and anger. After he was confident enough to stand, both brothers rose together, with Papyrus hesitantly giving Sans an affectionate rub on his crown.

"so, kid," Sans started, still grinning. "now that you're friends with papyrus, what's your plan? are you going to try and get through the barrier to go home?"

"Mmm, I... kinda don't want to." They gripped their arm with their opposite hand, biting their lip. "I don't have much of a 'home' to go back to, anyway. S'why I ended up here in the first place... an' besides, I don't want to leave so soon after making friends with such great people!"

Papyrus pulled the human from their thoughts, resting his gloved hand on their shoulder. He smiled broadly. "IF YOU DO NOT HAVE SOMEPLACE TO RETURN TO, PERHAPS YOU COULD STAY IN SNOWDIN! IT IS COLD HERE, AND YOU ARE ABSENT THE FUR MOST OF THE RESIDENTS HAVE, BUT WE HAVE BLANKETS!"

They regarded Papyrus with astonishment blooming in their gaze. "Can I... stay with you?"

Papyrus meant to silently ask Sans about the prospect of having this human child staying with them, a hopeful grin sprouting, but he stopped when he made eye contact. Sans' expression was considerably less enthusiastic than Papyrus felt about the idea; worse than abject refusal, conflict tightened Sans' features. After a heavy moment where even the human sensed the weighted silence and had turned their attention on Sans, he grinned again.

"aw man, that's a difficult question, kiddo. i feel like we've gotten to know each other pretty well, but you wanna move in with us just like that?" Sans shoved his hands in his pockets.

"I do! I want to stay with you two forever!" The human cried, grabbing onto Papyrus' hand and tugging possessively. "You're so nice to me, and we have so much fun together! Plus..." They quieted down a bit, ducking their head down slightly. "...If you wanted to capture me for the king, Papyrus, then other monsters might wanna do it, too."

Sans had to bite down a bitter laugh, especially as Papyrus' expression softened. The latter knelt beside the human, smiling brightly. "HUMAN, YOU ARE MY FRIEND! I WOULD NEVER LET ANYTHING BAD HAPPEN TO YOU! BUT SANS ACTUALLY HAS A GOOD POINT FOR ONCE. I WOULD BE PLEASED BY YOUR COMPANY, HUMAN, BUT ARE YOU CERTAIN THIS IS WHAT YOU WANT?"

The human beamed, nodding so hard their hair fluffed in the process. "More than anything!"

Try as he might, Papyrus could not resist the pleading of his new tiny human friend. He wrapped them in a hug, which the human exulted in, and then turned to Sans. "SANS! CAN WE ADOPT THEM? PLEASE?"

"... _adopt?_ " Taken aback, Sans actually fell back a step. "bro, i don't know if either one of us is ready to be a dad-"

"NO, NO, NO! NOT LIKE THAT! DON'T BE ABSURD! NYEH HEH HEH HEH!" Papyrus tilted his head back as he laughed at his brother. "I MEAN LIKE A PUPPY, OR A LOST LITTLE KITTEN! I AM CERTAIN THAT I CAN FIND A SUITABLE BED FOR THEM TO SLEEP IN!"

The human nestled into Papyrus' embrace, clearly buzzing with happiness. Both of them turned their attention to Sans at the same time, wearing the same puppydog eyes that Papyrus knew to be his secret weapon against his brother- at least in that it got him to listen to him once in a while. Sans cringed at the sight; he still found the human loathsome, but they were truly happy to be so welcomed. And Papyrus... he hadn't seen Papyrus smile like that since they were kids.

Sans sighed, then let a slow smile creep back onto his face. "okay, fine. let's give this a trial run."

Their cheers filled the air, and before Sans even knew what was happening, the two had latched onto him and pulled him into their hug. He squirmed a bit, but gave up trying to escape once the combination of long arms and tiny hands had him pinned. It wasn't so bad, really.

Papyrus rested his jaw on Sans' shoulder, and said as softly as he ever said anything, "...THANK YOU _... BROTHER_."


	9. Becoming A Family

Adjusting to the kid being around the house took more effort than any of them anticipated. Sure, Papyrus blustered about with joy to have a friend staying over- "LIKE A SLEEPOVER, BUT _EVERY_ NIGHT!"- but a human was a very different creature from a monster. The brothers took the time out to make sure to have enough food in the house for the kid to eat; Papyrus prepared spaghetti, of course, and Sans (in spite of his caution) often brought home an extra burger from Grillby's- just to make sure that the kid didn't subsist on Papyrus' cooking. They set up the couch as a bed for the kid, tracking down three extra blankets in case they got cold.

Even the glorious MTT program on TV wasn't much entertainment for the kid, though, and they didn't have much stimulation around the house. Papyrus loaned them a few of his books, and the kid smiled and read through the shorter ones in about a day. The manuals were often discarded, much to Papyrus' dismay. Sans initially invested in borrowing books from the library, and that helped a lot. The kid was really interested in the history books, saying there was much that the humans didn't know about what happened.

Once it became known that the skeletons had a new 'pet' human, and once the initial concern died down, the other inhabitants of Snowdin didn't dare leave the care of the child to the strange skeletons alone. The shopkeep brought over fresh cinnamon bunnies and hot food at least once a day, Grillby added a few more veggies to the to-go box that Sans would take home, and the innkeep had a few extra toys that her own weren't playing with as much, so she brought them over for the kid to enjoy.

But the human stayed reclusive, even when the other kids invited them out to play. They looked out the window, and an array of fear and sadness filled their expression to see the monster kids walking away from the house after getting no response.

"why don't you go with 'em?" Sans asked, standing not far off from where the human was perched by the window. "you look like you want to."

They sighed, letting the curtain fall back in place. "I do. But I'm scared."

"scared of what? the kids? naw, buddy, they're not that scary," Sans chuckled.

They gripped their arm so tightly their knuckles turned white. When they spoke, it was a whisper. "...I'm scared of _me_."

Sans nodded. "worried that if you start playing, you'll fall back into the murder thing?"

The human scowled at him. "Do you have to put it like _that?_ "

"yep." He chuckled, edging his head to the side to dodge the pillow the human threw. "i don't feel you deserve the kid gloves, pal, so you're gettin' unadulterated, brutal honesty out of me."

They rolled their eyes to the ceiling, then let their head drop to the knees they'd drawn to their chest. "...I don't want to go back to that. Ever again. I'm... I'm _happy_ like this."

"i'm glad to see you exercise caution instead of throwing yourself into situations where you might go back to knifing some random guy in the street." Sans popped open the ketchup bottle he had in his hands, and took a swig. "that said, i don't think it's healthy, or helping you very much, to isolate yourself like this."

"But I'm not isolated!" The human reeled on Sans, slamming their feet to the floor with a dry slap. "I have you and Papyrus! That's all the company I need!"

"so you've got one friend who is often out patrolling or taking care of other business, and one 'friend' who still has a chip on his shoulder that he's not dusting off anytime soon. this is somehow enough for you?"

The kid's response of silence was answered with another huge gulp of ketchup. When they spoke, Sans opened only one eye mid-chug to indicate his attention. "...It's still better than where I was before. I'm okay with this."

Sans finished his gulp, wiping his teeth clean. "if you say so, kid. but i still think you'd do better to get out once in a while. it's a lot easier not to be mad at people if you have fun with them."

"Can you... come with me?"

Sans sighed, lowering the bottle thoughtfully. "you know, i'd really love to, kid, but i'm really just waiting until papyrus gets back. i got my own jobs i gotta do. speakin' of, how many 'dogs you want?"

"Dogs?" The human's eyebrows shot up into their helmet of hair. "What do you mean? The guard dogs? For what?"

Sans laughed. Every time he laughed, it felt like a challenge to the endless nightmare he was still recovering from; a burst of life where things had started to shrivel away. Every laugh healed another scar.

"my hot dogs, kid. the ones i sell. i abbreviated it to 'dogs, with an apostrophe, y'know? maybe i shoulda included more letters."

The human blushed, but grinned. "So, like... h'dog? Ho-og? Wait, that last one sounds like a pig."

Another chuckle from Sans. "i like either of 'em. but how many?"

While the human considered their response, the door slammed open. With only a small jump from the human, and a pleased glance from Sans, neither one was surprised to see Papyrus catapulting his way inside.

"NYEH HEH HEH!" he cackled brightly, his hands on his hipbones. "TODAY IS A BEAUTIFUL DAY! NO SIGNS OF TROUBLE, THE PUZZLES ARE ALL SET IN CASE ANOTHER, MEANER HUMAN SLIPS BY, AND I HAVE GOOD NEWS!"

Regardless of the tense mood still hanging in the air between Sans and the kid, both of them smiled without reservation at Papyrus' return. In fact, either one of them could say that Papyrus' interruption was welcomed.

"BUT FIRST..." Papyrus dropped down to his knee, and held his arms open for the human. "I BRING HUGS FOR MY BEST FRIEND! SO YOU BETTER COME GET THEM!"

The kid giggled, launching over to Papyrus in an instant. As soon as they were in arm's reach of the skeleton, he scooped up the small creature and swung them about playfully, the two of them laughing happily. Once the momentum faded, he them in a hug, his arm supporting the child as he made his way over to Sans.

"BROTHER..." he started, his smile faltering slightly. "YOU SEEM WELL!"

Sans let his own smile grow warmer for every inch of hesitation he saw in Papyrus' expression. "i'm good, bro. really good. that spaghetti you left for me this morning was really good. i liked the addition of ketchup for a sauce instead of your usual marinara."

Papyrus glowed with joy at his brother's praise, something that tightened his grip on the human. "I THOUGHT YOU MIGHT LIKE THAT! I SAW YOU DRINKING A LOT MORE KETCHUP LATELY! SINCE BOTH ARE MADE WITH TOMATOES, I MADE A SUBSTITUTION!"

"i'm happy you were thinkin' of me, bro, but i'd've been happy with anything you made me."

Papyrus hid the welling of tears in his eyes by sniffing heavily, and then lightly headbutting the human- _very_ lightly. The human tittered gleefully at the affection, and rubbed their forehead against his. Of course, this didn't really help with the tears, and Papyrus had to sniff deeply again.

"ANYWAY!" He interrupted his own ascending spiral of happiness. "THE GOOD NEWS THAT I MENTIONED! UNDYNE HAS INVITED ME FOR ANOTHER TRAINING SESSION!"

"you mean a cooking lesson?" Sans kept the grimace behind his grin. Far from improving, those lessons were _worsening_ Papyrus' skill with cooking.

"CORRECT!" Papyrus jutted his index finger up, grinning triumphantly. "SHE WANTED TO DO IT TODAY, IN FACT, BUT I TOLD HER I HAD TO BE HERE!"

Sans chuckled softly. "i'm glad watching the kid is a priority for you, bro."

"OF COURSE IT IS! THEY ARE MY BEST FRIEND!" He lightly booped the kid on the nose, who giggled in response. "I WOULD NEVER SHIRK MY DUTY TO MY FRIEND! BESIDES, YOU NEED TO LEAVE FOR YOUR OWN WORK, DO YOU NOT? I WOULD BE A HYPOCRITE IF I KEPT YOU FROM WORKING!"

The kid sported a mischievous grin a split second before wildly scrambling out of Papyrus' embrace, climbing around the tall skeleton before latching their arms around his shoulders and their legs around his spine. Their face buried into the cape Papyrus always wore with a gleeful squeak.

"NYEH HEH HEH! I THINK THE LITTLE ONE WANTS TO PLAY!" Papyrus's own grin grew ten sizes, and he began tromping about the living room, giving the human a safe but bumpy ride. "SANS! YOU GO ON AHEAD!"

Sans finished the last swig of ketchup in the bottle, setting it carefully on the floor where he stood, and strolled over to the front door. "yeah, you're right. i've got a lot to do today, so you two-"

He froze, his hand on the doorknob. He slowly turned back to Papyrus, who was getting down on all fours, the kid now riding on his shoulders comfortably. "uh, bro... did you happen to tell undyne _why_ you had to be here today...?"

"OF COURSE!" Papyrus paused in his play to give Sans a knowing smirk. "I WOULDN'T LIE TO HER! I THINK SHE'S PROUD THAT I'VE MADE A FRIEND, ACTUALLY!"

Sans felt sweat gathering around his crown. "uh... did... did you mention that your new friend... was a human?"

"I DID!" Papyrus' exuberance was matched only by the diminishing playfulness of the kid, who slid off his back at the news. "SHE WAS VERY INTERESTED TO HEAR-" he looked to the human, confused. "WHAT'S WRONG?"

"uh, right, you know," Sans sauntered further back into the living room, smiling with more than a slight twitch to the edges of his grin. "maybe i'll stick around this afternoon instead. my 'dogs aren't selling as well as they could be, and i think maybe i should... maybe i should be here."

"SANS!" Papyrus stood again, placing both hands on his hips. "HOW IRRESPONSIBLE OF YOU! I DO NOT PERSONALLY UNDERSTAND THE APPEAL OF THOSE THINGS, BUT I HAVE IT ON GOOD AUTHORITY MANY OF THE DENIZENS OF HOTLAND ENJOY YOUR MEAT-LIKE PRODUCT! BESIDES, AFTER I ALREADY TOLD UNDYNE THAT I COULDN'T MAKE IT TO A LESSON-"

"i'm sorry, bro, i really am." Sans' grin grew more urgent. "but i-i would really like to spend some time with the both of you, anyway. it's not often we get to hang out, the three of us."

Papyrus tried giving Sans the long, hardened stare he imagined he would need as a Royal Guard someday, but the trickle of joy at Sans _wanting to be with him_ kept it from staying stern for very long. He crossed his arms and huffed indignantly to mask his growing smile. "I SUPPOSE SOME ALLOWANCES CAN BE MADE IF YOU ARE TRULY SO LONELY, BROTHER!"

Sans' hand went to the back of his neck, to disguise the shaking. _Undyne_. The head of the Royal Guard, who had taken Papyrus under her wing to keep him from harassing her every night. Another lifetime, he'd felt sorry for her and grateful that there was someone else that Papyrus could pester instead of him. Another one of those perspective changes that filtered in over so many resets; she'd done Papyrus a favor, by giving him an outlet for his enthusiasm without ever discouraging him or putting him in a place of danger.

He'd once thought she kept him out of the Royal Guard because he was incompetent; it couldn't be further from the truth. Papyrus was just as competent at sparring as any other guard. What he lacked was not skill or resilience, but a hardness in his soul that you'd need to kill someone when you needed to.

Undyne, on the other hand... she didn't get where she was by being a kind-hearted soul. Her brutality and ferocity had once intimidated Sans. Of course, he was numb to a lot of brutality now. He was so tired of it... and now the _head of the Royal Guard_ knew that there was a human living in their midst, he doubted it would be long before she would come to fulfill her duty to the king.

Sans tried to bring himself back to the present, but he couldn't shed the sudden weight of dread building in him. The human was docile enough now, but if forced back into violence, what would they do? Would they revert? Would they kill Undyne? Would Undyne kill the kid? No matter what, conflict would ensue.

And the kid might reset again.

He couldn't. He _couldn't_ let that happen, he couldn't lose the progress he'd made with Papyrus, he couldn't lose his trust again, he couldn't wake up _screaming_ because _Papyrus was dead_ or wake up from that void place of death, he couldn't keep killing and killing and _killing_ -

"BROTHER?" His head jolted up, and he gasped to see both Papyrus and the kid staring at him with concern. "WHAT'S WRONG? IS THERE SOMETHING OTHER THAN MISSING ME KEEPING YOU FROM LEAVING FOR YOUR JOB?"

"uh, no... _no_." He reiterated firmly, grinning. "but i am feeling kinda tired. you guys mind if i just watch for now?"

"OH MY GOD, YOU ARE SUCH A LAZYBONES YOU CAN'T EVEN _PLAY_!? NYEH HEH HEH HEH- EH... AHEM..." Papyrus cut his chuckle off, putting his hand over his teeth. "I-I MEAN... IF... IF YOU ARE TIRED... THEN I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WILL TAKE UP ANY OF YOUR SLACK!"

"thanks, bro," Sans dropped onto the couch without further ceremony, letting his eyes close for a moment. "you're too good to me."

He was getting a lot better at burying his fears around Papyrus, though he still definitely had trouble keeping it cool. The human knew better than Papyrus what Sans was hiding, and for all that Sans waited for the human to turn around and destroy everything they'd all built together again, he was glad that at least the human hadn't tried to tell Papyrus what had happened to get to this point. Their war was between _them_.

"ALRIGHT, HUMAN! I HAVE AN IDEA FOR FUN THIS AFTERNOON!"

"What?" The kid smiled broadly.

"I FOUND SOME JUNIOR JUMBLES FOR US TO _PUZZLE_ OUT!" Papyrus dug out some of the puzzle books he'd picked up at the shop, and splayed them between his fingers gleefully. "THERE ARE SOME OTHER PUZZLES IN HERE TOO, BUT THEY'RE BORING, AND I WOULDN'T WANT YOU TO-"

A loud knock pounded at the door so fiercely that the wall shook. Before the last knock could stop echoing, a familiar, hard but firm woman's voice spilled in from outside."PAPYRUS! I'm here to meet your _friend_!"


End file.
